


Therapy

by bubblesbromleigh



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Young Daryl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 07:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5197028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblesbromleigh/pseuds/bubblesbromleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A newcomer to Alexandria causes Daryl to start remembering his past. Will he open up and allow her to help him through it or will it destroy him?<br/>Implied child abuse of all types, no detail but pretty obvious, mainly relived as nightmares.<br/>Please do not read if this is likely to trigger or cause distress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mainly Daryl and original female character, developing friendship, probably no romance. Set after season 5 finale but before season 6. I started writing this before the character of Denise was introduced so all similarities are purely coincidental. First time posting on here but I have written on another site under a different name. Comments are more than welcome. Enjoy!

The bedroom door slamming back against the wall woke the boy abruptly from his fitful sleep. Rubbing his hand across his face he sat slowly, not taking his eyes from the two figures framed in the doorway.  
“Well?” The bigger of the two rasped “What’d yer say?”  
The boy cowered back instinctively as the smaller man stepped further into the room, not taking his eyes from the skinny figure in the threadbare, too small pyjamas, huddled on the bed in front of him.  
“Pa?” the boy’s voice was quiet, nervous and unsure as he pulled his knees to his chest, trying to make himself smaller.  
“Hush yer noise, boy!” his father snapped. The child noticed the man’s hands were shaking, he was fidgety and twitching, his whole body language one of agitation and frustration. Even at such a young age he knew his Pa was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. There’d been no money for drugs for almost a week, in fact there’d been no money for anything and he’d not eaten for two days. His stomach grumbled at the thought of food and he curled up even tighter as the stranger continued to stare at him.  
“How old?” the man asked without turning away.  
“’bout 8, maybe 9. Aint really sure anymore” his father replied, looking hopefully at the other man.  
“Well, we got a deal or what?” he asked.  
The man reached into an inside pocket in his jacket and pulled out a clear plastic bag containing a small amount of white powder. He glanced over his shoulder, smiling at the eager look on the older man’s face at sight of it.  
“Yeah” he grinned as he handed the baggie over “We got a deal”  
The man the boy had become woke suddenly, barely managing to hold back the whimper that threatened to escape. He lay on his back in the bed breathing hard, his body clammy and trembling as images from the vivid dream came flooding back. This was the fifth night in a row he’d had this nightmare and each night had got a little worse.  
His breathing slowed as he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress and pulling his boots on. He knew there would be no more sleep to be had tonight. He’d had no more than a few hours rest on each of the previous occasions and he was exhausted but he knew it was pointless to even try.  
Silently he slipped out of the small room that he had finally claimed as his own, accepting at last that maybe Alexandria was a place they could be safe, a place they could call home. He’d spent the first few weeks after they arrived refusing to settle, choosing to sleep on the porch of Rick’s house, still going out hunting and gutting the animals he caught on the veranda, in full view of the townsfolk who were suitably disgusted. It hadn’t been long before the complaints started and Rick had been forced to speak to him about it. He hadn’t stopped, just become more discreet.  
He opened the front door and slipped outside into the warm darkness. The last two nights had been spent pacing the streets, wandering aimlessly around the town, trying to make himself so tired dreamless sleep would follow. So far it hadn’t worked.  
As he paced he tried to figure out why the dreams had started up again. He’d not had them since before the turn and had managed to repress so many bad memories. Now it was as if a floodgate had been opened and he could no longer control the flow of unwanted images.  
It had all began when they found that damn doctor woman. He and Aaron had come across a group of two women and three men surviving in a car repair shop on the edge of a small non-descript town. They seemed to be doing okay, they had supplies and were organised and careful, making sure someone was on watch at all times, keeping their guard up.  
Aaron had listened to their conversations for a couple of hours as they tried to find out what sort of people they were.  
“Daryl” He’d called excitedly “The brunette, they all keep calling her Doc” he flashed a grin at his companion  
“We have to take them back. We’ve needed a doctor since we lost Pete two weeks ago”  
Daryl shrugged,  
“Guess so” he muttered absently, as he fiddled with the throttle on his motorcycle.  
Aaron had eavesdropped a while longer before making the final decision to approach the small group. He’d lead the way, they both knew his neat, well dressed appearance was the least threatening, the least likely to get them shot on sight.  
They’d approached slowly, Aaron with his arms held out at his sides, palms facing forward, a friendly smile planted on his face as he spoke reassuringly to the cautious group.  
Daryl trailed along behind him, trying and failing to look harmless. Even with his crossbow slung across his shoulders and his hands well away from his other weapons he still managed to look intimidating. All Aaron and Eric’s gentle suggestions about haircuts and clean clothes had been ignored. He still wore the same pants he had arrived at Alexandria in, the rip over his knee getting bigger daily. His shoes were held together with duct tape and string and his leather vest had seen better days. He’d been forced to find some new shirts when his old ones had mysteriously had some kind of laundry mishap, after Carol had sneaked into his room and gathered up everything she could find. She’d barely tried to hide the grin as she held up the unwearable shirts, apologetically telling him where he could go find some better ones. He still hadn’t worked out how hand washing a few shirts could rip them to shreds and why it had only happened to his. He had his suspicions but Carol denied any wrongdoing.  
He hung back, watching the group as Aaron finally convinced them to come back to Alexandria, which had then caused the next problem. With five additional people and their belongings there wasn’t enough room in the SUV Aaron was driving.  
“Battery died on our car a week or so back” a large well-built man, with grey hair and an impressive grey beard had explained “Haven’t been able to find a replacement” He’d gone on to introduce himself as Ian Cooper.  
“Call me Coop, everyone else does” He told them how he’d worked as a site manager for a construction company before going on to introduce the rest of his group.  
“Serious looking little lady here is Marcie. She might not look much but she’s sure saved our asses on many occasion” he nodded to a young , short woman, a grin on his face as she rolled her eyes at him, nervously removing her studious looking glasses, cleaning them on her sweater before giving the strangers a nervous smile.  
“Hello” she said hesitantly “he means what I lack in physical prowess I more than make up for with mental agility. Lateral thinking and problem solving are my speciality”  
Coop gave a bellow of laughter as the two newcomers exchanged glances.  
“Marcie here is a real smart ass, worked in a lab before the shit happened. Give her the right tools and she can fix just about anything. Knows a hell of a lot about science and crap too” he teased.  
“We have someone back home you’ll really get on with” Aaron smiled, thinking about Eugene and vowing to make sure he never got caught in a conversation with the two of them.  
A thin man in his 20’s was introduced as Colin Matthews, a former web page designer, who apparently was the ‘man you wanted backing you up in a scrap’  
The last man was in his 30’s and male model handsome. Daryl bit back the snigger when he saw his companion discreetly checking him out.  
“Ethan Brody” he told Aaron, his voice smooth and friendly. Daryl disliked him on sight, more so when he saw the man wipe his hands on his pants after giving him a rather limp and insipid handshake. Turning his back, feeling pretty insulted, Daryl caught the eye of the remaining woman, the one they had been calling Doc. She gave him an apologetic smile holding her own hand out.  
“Jasmine Harvey” she told him before leaning forward and muttering “Ignore him, he’s an asshole”,  
Daryl shrugged, pulling his hand free.  
“Whatever” he mumbled returning to the bike.  
“And clearly not the only one” Jasmine called out behind him, humour in her voice.  
Daryl shot her his best glare, irritated to see it had no effect whatsoever.  
“We gonna stand around making small talk all day or we gonna get back before night fall?” He yelled at Aaron, causing the man to frown at him.  
“We’re just trying to sort out the transport” Aaron explained “You’re going to have to take someone on the bike”  
“Just get it sorted then. Don’t wanna be out here after dark” Daryl grumbled as he swung his leg over the bike, kick starting it and waiting impatiently.  
“Aint got room for the big guy” He indicated the small space behind him. Coop laughed.  
“Damn it man, aint never ridden bitch before in my life and I don’t plan to start now” he commented.  
“I’ll go” Jasmine came forward “Rode with my brother all the time so I’m used to it” Before anyone could object she climbed on and settled herself behind Daryl. At once he pulled away, accelerating down the road without a backwards glance.  
Aaron caught Marcie gazing down the road, a wistful expression on her face.  
“If you don’t mind me asking” she glanced shyly at him “What is your companion’s current relationship status?”  
Aaron shook his head in disbelief.  
“It’s the bike” he thought to himself “It’s got to be the bike”  
As he raced down the road Daryl had to admit that the woman behind him seemed to know what she was doing on the back of a bike. She held on just enough to not fall off, usually he found any woman behind him held on much more tightly than they needed to, usually pressed against his back in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. She moved the right way on the bends, following the movement of the vehicle and seemed relaxed and confident, none of the annoying squeaks or giggles he usually got from female passengers when he accelerated.  
After an hour of travelling he began to slow, giving the car behind time to catch up.  
“Thank you” her voice close to his ear startled him and he shot her an annoyed look.  
“Thank you for letting me come with you. I couldn’t go in the car with Ethan. That man does not know how to keep his hands to himself” Jasmine explained.  
At once Daryl pulled the bike over to the side of the road and turned to her.  
“You tellin’ me we’re gonna have a problem? He gonna get handsy with the women we got back home?” He demanded  
“I don’t think it will be an issue. I’ll get Coop to have a word with him. He can be quite persuasive when he needs to be. Please, we need this. It’s getting too hard to survive out there now. We need a community with walls and shelter!” Jasmine pleaded with him.  
Daryl thought for a second before replying.  
“You just tell him he lays a hand on anyone who don’t want it and I’ll stomp his pretty boy face into the ground” he threatened, starting the bike again as the car came into view and they continued on to Alexandria.  
That had been almost three weeks ago and the newcomers were now well established in the small gated community. During the interviews with Deanna it had come out that Jasmine was not a medical Doctor but a psychologist, with a limited medical knowledge.  
Disappointed but undeterred the former congresswoman had put her to work straight away, telling every member of the community they were to arrange a meeting with the young doctor, wanting her to assess if any others were showing signs of instability, like Pete and Nicolas 

As far as he knew Daryl was now the only one who had not seen her, managing to avoid even passing her in the street. He was sick of people telling him how wonderful she was, how she had helped them deal with so many issues, how she made them feel like a better person. Even Rick had suggested it might be an idea for him to just spend a few moments with the woman.  
“Why in the hell do I need to go see some damn head doctor?” he’d demanded aggressively “I aint got no issues need sortin’”  
“You sure?” his friend had responded, raising his eyebrow slightly “that sounds a whole lot like denial to me”  
“You don’t know what yer talkin’ about!” He snarled before stalking off. That was the night of the first nightmare.  
Now he was angrily pacing around the dark, silent town trying to push back memories he’d repressed for so long.  
With a sigh he pulled out one of his remaining few cigarettes, clamping it between his lips as he searched his pockets for his lighter before remembering he’d left it on the chair in his room.  
“Goddamnit!” he muttered yanking the unlit cigarette from his mouth.  
“You need a light for that?”  
The soft voice came from the darkened porch of the nearest house, startling him, making him realise how messed up he was not to have noticed the woman standing there, a glowing cigarette in her hand.  
With a muttered oath he realised it was the very person he’d been trying to keep away from. He stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to say something else but she remained silent. Finally his need for a smoke outweighed his reluctance to speak to her and he made his way across the lawn and onto the porch.  
Jasmine watched as the man stood several feet from her, shifting on his feet uncomfortably and chewing on the skin at the side of his thumb, his body language screaming nervousness . She’d seen him walking the streets for the last few nights and wondered why. She was fully aware he was the only one who hadn’t been to see her and that was more than enough to make her curious.  
“You gotta light or not?” he snarled gruffly, trying to sound confident and aggressive and failing. Her professional ear picked up the slight quiver in his voice and she saw the way he was refusing to look at her directly, his body angled away as he watched her from the corner of his eye.  
“Here” she said as she took a pull on the cigarette between her lips, causing the end to glow red. She saw the hesitation before he straightened his back and moved towards her, his own unlit cigarette back in his mouth. He leaned forward, bending at the waist to keep as much distance between them as was possible and touched the end of his cigarette to hers, taking a couple of pulls until his ignited before retreating to the other side of a small table and lawn chairs, set next to the front door.  
“Thanks” he mumbled, shooting her a quick glance, noting her small smile.  
“What’s so damn funny?” he demanded, scowling as her smile grew wider.  
“Interesting how the need for nicotine overcame the need to keep your distance from contact with another person” she commented.  
“You tryin’ to analyse me now? Get in my head and screw around with it like you done with everyone else?” Daryl snarled at the still smiling woman.  
“I wasn’t aware I’d screwed with anyone’s head” she told him easily, not phased at all by his aggressive attitude.  
“People have come and talked to me, I’ve listened, given advice where appropriate and they’ve gone on their way, some happier than others” She gave him an assessing look.  
“You’re the only one who hasn’t come to see me yet, Mr Dixon” Jasmine commented, dropping the stub of her cigarette and grinding it out with her foot.  
“Why is that?”  
“Aint got no need to have some damn doctor poking around in my head. Got nothing I need to discuss with some college bitch” Daryl was deliberately being offensive, trying to scare her off, not realising his behaviour was just making her more and more interested in him.  
“Why do you walk the streets every night?” she asked suddenly “What’s stopping you from sleeping?”  
He stopped ranting , glaring at her before replying.  
“What’s stopping you?” he challenged “You see me walkin’ about means you aint all tucked up, so why aint you sleeping?”  
He was surprised to hear her give a loud laugh.  
“Good answer” she chuckled “and fair point” She turned, heading for her front door “Wait there, I’ll just be a second” she said as she disappeared inside. Childishly he turned and headed for the steps, intending to leave, no intention of doing as she said.  
He heard the creak of floorboards behind him and turned to see Jasmine standing in the doorway, a glass in each hand. She smiled as she saw him hesitating at the edge of the steps.  
“So predictable” she sighed, holding one of the glasses towards him.  
“Here, have a drink with me” she shook the glass and he heard the chink of ice cubes.  
“Come on, it’s the good stuff. Drink with me and I’ll tell you why I stole it from Deanna’s house this afternoon”  
All his instincts told him to leave but the lure of the whiskey was too strong, and he had to admit he was curious as to why she would steal from the illustrious leader. He found himself snatching the offered glass from her hand.  
Jasmine settled herself on one of the chairs next to the table, indicating he sat in the other. Stubbornly he ignored her, instead leaning on the wooden rails running the length of the porch. She hid her small smile in her glass as she took a sip of the smooth Scotch, watching discreetly as he fished in the glass with his dirty fingers, pulling the ice cubes out and dropping them on the wooden floor.  
“Don’t need nothing in a good whiskey” he growled, finally allowing himself a sip. The alcohol slid down his throat, surprising him with it’s rich, smooth taste. The whiskey he was used to drinking was usually rough enough to strip paint, in fact he had used it in the past to clean engine parts on his bike.  
“Shit, that is good!” he admitted as he took another mouthful.  
“Go on then, why’d yer lift it from the old bag's house?” he asked.  
Jasmine shrugged.  
“She pissed me off” she confessed “I saw it there and I like good scotch, so I helped myself on the way out”  
She took another sip, watching him through lowered eyes before speaking again.  
“She wanted me to talk to people, to find out if I thought there were any others here with issues that might cause a problem in the future, and after what happened to her husband I don’t blame her. I met with everyone” she glanced at him again.  
“Well almost everyone” she smiled, ignoring his scowl as she continued .  
“As far as I could see there was no one here I would consider a potential risk. All sorts of other more personal, private issues but nothing dangerous. Deanna tried to insist I handed over all the notes I took during the consultations. I felt that she had no need to see them, people had told me a lot of things in confidence and I wasn’t prepared to betray that. I still believe that doctor/patient confidentiality should stand. She saw it differently and we had words” Jasmine took another sip from the glass and leaned back in the chair.  
“Damn woman’s on an ego trip, thinks she’s all that ‘cos she used to be a congresswoman  
or some crap” Daryl finally made his way to the chair across the table from Jasmine and sat, swigging the rest of his drink in one mouthful.  
“Well, she kind of implied that unless I did what she wanted I wouldn’t be welcome in Alexandria much longer and those I came in with would have to go as well” She sighed  
“I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to give in to her but I can’t let Marcie, Coop and the others be thrown out because of my principals” Jasmine set her empty glass carefully on the table, next to Daryl’s before meeting his eye.  
“You want some more of that the bottle’s on the kitchen counter, go grab it”  
He didn’t argue and was soon filling both glasses with the amber liquid.  
“Now when she gets Constable Grimes to investigate the theft of her property your fingerprints will be all over the evidence” she laughed, surprised to hear him give a small snort of laughter.  
“Doubt Rick’ll be too bothered by a missing bottle of whiskey, ‘specially if you save him a glass” he countered.  
Jasmine gave him a concerned look.  
“Mr Dixon, are you telling me the authorities here are corrupt and open to bribes?” She asked, keeping her face straight.  
“That’s a very serious accusation, I really should report it to those in charge”  
The concerned look that crossed his face made it impossible for her to hold back her grin, which widened when she heard him mutter under his breath.  
“Bitch”  
Still smiling she reached over and topped up both glasses again.  
They shared a couple more drinks in a companionable silence and Daryl found himself relaxing in her company, she had a quirky sense of humour and entertained him with stories about some of her previous patients, back when she was the youngest partner in a practice in DC. She actually managed to make him choke on a mouthful of his drink when she told him about one of her clients particular fetishes.  
"And he thought it was perfectly okay to do this as long as he wore the long, black rubber gloves!" She finished as he coughed and spluttered, trying and failing to regain some dignity.  
"Jeez!" He managed "How the hell you keep a straight face talking to freaks like that?"  
"Years of training and experience" she flashed him another smile "Don't ever play poker with me, you won't stand a chance"  
Before they realised it the sky was lightening as the sun began to rise and Daryl rose, somewhat unsteadily to his feet.  
"Best go, got a run with Aaron today" he mumbled "need to go get some coffee or something"  
He hesitated halfway down the steps, glancing at her over his shoulder.  
"Thanks for the drink" he said awkwardly "And Deanna aint gonna chuck you and the others out. Coop and Marcie are too useful here and that Ethan creeps too pretty, none of the single chicks will let him go. She'll just have to get over it"  
Jasmine gave him a nod.  
"Thank you for that. Go try and get some sleep and if you do decide you need to talk about anything come find me. No pressure, only if you want to"  
With a final glance at her Daryl headed back to the house he shared with the Grimes family, Michonne and Carol. He crawled into his bed and actually managed to get a couple of hours undisturbed sleep.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl struggles to deal with the nightmares and sleepless nights leading to conflict with others in the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again mention of physical child abuse from the start. Please do not read if this is likely to upset you, that's the last thing I want to do.  
> Thank you to all those who commented and left kudos on the first chapter - it's really appreciated.   
> Enjoy and feel free to comment.  
> Thanks for reading.

Chapter 2  
The man loomed over him, blood dripping from the cut in his lip as he snarled at the boy in front of him.  
“You piece of shit, you’re gonna pay for hittin’ me”   
He advanced, reaching out to grab a handful of the boy’s shirt but the boy was fast and dodged, slipping past the angry man as his hands grasped at the air where the boy had been. The child dashed for the bedroom door but it crashed open before he reached it. He froze, cowering back at the angry expression on his father’s face as he filled the doorway, his fists already clenched.  
“Where you think you’re going?” he sneered, shoving the boy further back into the room as he took in the furious man with the bleeding lip.  
“Hell’s going on here?” he slurred, voice thick with alcohol and drugs.  
“Little Bastard hit me” the man glared at the child “Tried to say no, tried to tell me it weren’t happening again”  
“That so?” He saw the way his father’s eyes narrowed and braced himself for what he knew was to come next. Even expected the blow was still hard enough to knock him off his feet, his head ringing from the impact. He felt the blood trickle down his cheek and knew the signet ring his father wore had gashed open his cheek again. Fighting back tears of pain, anger and frustration he used the edge of the bed to pull himself to his feet before his father had a chance to aim a kick to his ribs, calling him a pussy for laying on the floor too long.  
“Seems like he needs to learn a bit of respect for his elders”   
His blood ran cold as he heard the familiar chink of a belt buckle being undone followed by the soft swish as the leather was pulled through pant loops.  
“Turn round boy” his father demanded as he folded the belt in half, wrapping the buckle end around his fist.  
The child shook his head, tears filling his eyes as he pleaded.  
“Please Pa” he begged “I’ll be good, I’ll do what he wants, jus’ don’t hit me again” He tried to back away but the back of his legs hit the bed and there was nowhere left to go.  
He saw the look of disgust on the older man’s face.  
“Quit the snivellin’ boy, acting like some little pussy, makes me ‘shamed to say you’re my son” The man reached out and grabbed his tee shirt, twisting him round and throwing him face down onto the bed. The threadbare fabric ripped revealing the child’s already scarred and bruised back.  
His fingers dug into the blanket as the belt made contact with the already tender flesh and he tried not to make a sound. The belt struck him again and he heard another voice.  
“Stop!”  
Hopefully he risked a glance over his shoulder at the man with the still bleeding lip, daring to hope the man was going to help him. That tiny hope was dashed when he saw the predatory gleam in the man’s eye as he reached over and took the belt from his father’s unresisting hand.  
“Little shit hit me, let me be the one to punish him”  
As the belt came down again and again he closed his eyes, biting his lip hard enough to break the skin, refusing to give them the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.  
He was 12 years old and had just entered the next level of the Hell that was his life.  
Daryl woke with a start, this time unable hold back the cry from his lips. This dream was different, it had moved a few years into his shitty childhood, to the point when the abuse became even more violent. The pusher his father dealt with had began to demand more than he was already taking to keep supplying the drugs. His father had willingly accepted the new terms, no regard or love for his younger son, no remorse for what he was allowing to happen to him.  
The only time Daryl had any respite was when Merle was home. At 22 years old Merle was big and strong and would stand up to the older Dixon, not allowing any harm to come to his baby brother. Unfortunately he had no idea what went on while he wasn’t there. Their father had made it clear to Daryl that if he blabbed something bad would happen to his older brother. The pusher he dealt with had friends, large, savage friends who would have no problem teaching Merle a lesson he wouldn’t forget. Daryl loved his brother enough to want to protect him, even at that early age, so he kept quiet and treasured the few days Merle was home. They didn’t happen often as Merle was unable to keep out of trouble and spent most of his time in juvie, or once he was old enough, jail. Sometimes he would go off on a bender and disappear for weeks. Daryl soon learnt not to rely on him, he coped by retreating further and further into himself. He gave up attending school and nobody in authority cared enough to try and find out why. He tried to run once but friends of his father saw him hitchhiking on the road and forced him home.   
Unconsciously he touched the scar on his stomach, remembering how much the blows had hurt, how he’d been unable to get to his feet afterwards, only able to watch as the knife had slashed across his skin, deep enough to scar but not severe enough to let him bleed out.  
“Think about this next time you try to run, you little runt” his father had snarled as he gave the shivering child a brutal kick to the ribs.  
“Jus’ remember I got eyes everywhere, you won’t get outta town without me knowing it. Try again and it’ll be worse and maybe I’ll get someone to pay a little visit to that bastard you call brother, see how he likes the feel of a blade on his skin”   
There’d been another punch and he remembered nothing more until he woke up cold and alone, still on the filthy kitchen floor his whole body screaming in agony. He hadn’t tried to run again.  
With a sigh Daryl pulled himself from the bed and once again made his way outside. This time he made sure he had his lighter and kept well away from the woman’s house. He hadn’t had that bad a time with her the previous night, actually found her pretty good company, but he sensed she saw through his tough guy act and didn’t want to run the risk of her trying to find out more about him. There was no way he was ever going to open up to her - he would deal with things his own way.  
Making sure he had a good supply of bolts and his knife at his belt he shouldered his crossbow and climbed over the high fence, avoiding the gate. He made his way into the forest surrounding Alexandria, feeling the tenseness leave his body the further away he got.  
It was daylight when he returned through the gate, covered in walker blood and gore and carrying a string of several dead animals and birds over his shoulder. The guard on duty let him in, recoiling in horror at the sight of his blood caked clothes and skin.  
“You gotta a problem?” he snarled at the revolted man, glaring at him until he looked away, shaking his head. He was heading for the pantry when Rick headed him off.  
“What the hell?” the Constable questioned, indicating his appearance.  
“Ran into a couple of walkers out huntin’. Dealt with them, aint an issue” Daryl pushed past his friend, wanting to hand over his catch.  
“You can’t walk around here looking like that” Rick hissed “You know we’re trying to fit in, not scare the hell out of them”  
“These people need to get real” Daryl met Rick’s eyes, his look challenging “Aint you said enough times they don’t have a clue what’s out there?”  
Rick closed his eyes briefly,   
“This isn’t the way to do it. This just scares them and makes them think we’re a pack of savages” As soon as the words left his mouth Rick knew it was the wrong thing to say.  
Daryl thrust the dead animals into his chest.  
“Was good enough for you when we was out there. Didn’t hear no complaints when I was the only one bringing any damn food in, the only one feeding your damn kids” His sleep deprived brain lost control of his mouth as he leaned in closer to Rick.  
“You call me a savage but I aint the one gunned a man down ‘cos I wanted to get into his Wife’s pants” he hissed.  
The blow caught him by surprise and he reacted instinctively, throwing a punch of his own, satisfied when he made contact with flesh. The pair traded punches for a few seconds before Abraham caught hold of Rick and dragged him away. Strong arms wrapped around Daryl, pinning his arms to his sides as he struggled to free himself.  
“Take it easy man, I aint letting you go ‘till you calm down” Coop shifted his grip, pulling Daryl’s arms behind him, Abraham doing the same to Rick. Glancing round Daryl saw Aaron staring at him,a look of disappointment on his face. Other townsfolk were gathered around, whispering among themselves and he could guess the sort of things they were saying.  
“Stupid, ignorant redneck”  
“Waste of space trailer trash”  
“Good for nothing”  
It was what he’d been hearing all his life, drummed into him by his father from an early age his low opinion of himself had never left.  
He was aware of a voice, soft and calming, close to his ear.  
“Come with me now before Deanna gets here, unless you want to explain this to her” He blinked, realising Jasmine was next to him, her expression unreadable. He saw Deanna striding towards them, her stern face angrier than usual.  
“‘Kay” he said quietly, suddenly wanting nothing more than to get away from everyone, from the accusing, judging eyes.  
“You give the Doc any trouble, you got me to answer to” Coop’s tone was threatening, leaving Daryl with no doubt he would come worse off in a confrontation with the protective big man.   
He saw Jasmine wave Deanna off, getting a small sense of satisfaction when the leader changed direction and headed for Rick.  
“He started it, let him sort it” he thought childishly as he followed Jasmine back to her house.   
Once they were both inside she closed the door and turned to him. He’d been about to throw himself down on the cream couch in her sitting room when she stopped him.  
“Don’t even think it” she snapped “not while you’re covered in all that…….” she waved her hands in his direction “I don’t even know what it is you’re covered in”  
“Blood, guts, brain, bits of skin” he told her helpfully, smirking as he considered whether or not to sit anyway, just to piss her off.  
“Get yourself up the stairs and in the shower” she demanded “Leave the clothes outside the door and I’ll get them cleaned”  
He stared at her defiantly.  
“I aint no kid needs to be told when to clean up” he snarled.  
“Then stop acting like one” she shot back “What was that all about, brawling in the street? This isn’t the playground”  
He shot her another glare and moved towards the front door, intent on leaving.  
“You step out that door and I’ll go tell Deanna I don’t think you should go on anymore recruiting runs with Aaron. I’ll tell her you’re suffering from some kind of post traumatic stress disorder and that it’s not safe for you to be out there. I’ll tell her you need something trivial to do, get her to assign you to garden maintenance or maybe you can help Olivia in the pantry. I happen to know she’s got a bit of a crush on you and your whole bad boy vibe”   
He froze with his hand on the door handle.  
“Nah, you’re bluffing” he studied her face but she was giving nothing away.  
“You want to take that chance?” even her voice was neutral and he remembered what she said about never playing poker with her.  
He considered his options for a moment, didn’t like any of them and knew she’d won this round.  
“Fine, I’ll go clean up but I want my clothes back, none of this fancy crap they all wear here” he tried to bargain.  
“You’ll shower and I can’t promise about the clothes” she was unmoving, then relented a little “I’ll make sure you get the vest back”  
He was stubborn but even Daryl knew when he was beaten. With a muttered curse he turned and headed for the stairs. Halfway up he realised she was following him.  
“Hell you doin’?” he asked “You plannin’ on scrubbing my back or somethin’?”  
She gave an unladylike snort.  
“Maybe in your dreams” she countered “Just making sure there’s enough soap and towels. Got a feeling you’re going to need a lot of both”  
As she slipped past him he found himself wishing his dreams were full of her, she was a bitch but anything was better than what he was currently conjuring up in his sleep.  
Predictably when he peeked out the bathroom door 30 minutes later, the clothes piled up outside weren’t his. Muttering he pulled them on, trying to convince himself it didn’t feel good to be wearing fresh clean clothes.  
There were no shoes so he padded downstairs in his socks, finding Jasmine in the kitchen, trying to clean up his winged, leather vest. A pot was bubbling away on the stove, filling the kitchen with a delicious aroma that made his stomach rumble.  
She glanced up when she heard him and gave a nod of approval, not surprised to see he’d ripped the sleeves off the denim shirt she’d managed to find in the store room.   
“Almost finished with this” she told him as she wiped over the fabric wings on the back of his vest. “It’s not perfect but I’ve done the best I can” she glanced at his sock clad feet.   
“There’s boxes on the couch, wasn’t sure which size so I bought a few” He wandered into the sitting room and found half a dozen Timberland boxes stacked on the couch.  
“Apparently one of the supply runs found a warehouse full of new boots and shoes so they bought back as many as they could. Something should fit, if not there plenty more to try” He blanked her voice out as he opened the first box, trying on the expensive, suede boots.  
Jasmine was stirring the pot when he came back into the kitchen. She jumped when he appeared at her side, peering into the simmering pan.  
“Whatcha cooking?” he asked, hoping she’d offer him some “smells good”  
“One of the rabbits you bought back this morning” she gave him a sly look, “It kind of found its way into my bag before we came back here”  
He gave her one of his rare smiles.  
“Damn it woman, we’re gonna have to lock up the silverware round here, you got sticky fingers. My brother would’ve liked you”   
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation and Jasmine opened it to find Carol and a shamefaced Rick on the doorstep.  
“Hey” Rick looked suitably apologetic “Can I talk to Daryl for a minute please?”  
Jasmine exchanged a look with Carol, both woman struggling to hide their grins.  
“Are you going to play nice if we leave you alone?” she asked as Daryl appeared behind her, ignoring the whistle from Carol as she took in his now clean appearance.  
The women retreated to the kitchen and at once Carol turned to her.  
“How did you do it?” she demanded “I’ve been trying since we got here, how’d you get him to shower and change?” a sudden thought struck her.  
“Are you sleeping together, is that why he disappears every night and why he’s so tired?” she asked with a grin.  
Jasmine laughed out loud.  
“Oh God no, we’re not sleeping together. Something’s stopping him from sleeping but it’s not me. As for the shower you just needed to know the right threat to convince him it was in his best interests.”  
“You’d be good for him, maybe you should think about it” Carol teased “and you’d better hurry, now he’s all cleaned up he’s going to get a lot more attention. This is going to be fun to watch”  
The two women were still laughing when Rick and Daryl came into the kitchen, clearly having sorted their differences, Rick teasing Daryl about his fancy new boots.  
“Piss off Grimes, yer jus’ jealous ‘cos they’re better than them battered ole cowboy boots of yours” he grumbled.  
They were still arguing good naturedly when the three of them left a short while later. They had invited Jasmine back to eat with them but she declined, saying she had a stew needed eating and not to worry.  
She pulled a face at Carol when the older woman gave her a wink and told her to remember what she’d said about needing to hurry if she was interested.  
She closed the door behind them, glancing around the empty house. She was meant to be sharing with Marcie but the young woman spent most of her time with Eugene, the two of them having hit it off almost immediately, much to Tara’s delight. With a sign Jasmine helped herself to a portion of stew, pulled a paperback book off a shelf and settled back for a long, quiet night alone.


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A run doesn't go to plan and Daryl and Jasmine find themselves alone, will he be able to hide his nightmare past from her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos for the last chapter, I really appreciate it.  
> Hope you like this chapter and would love to hear your thoughts.  
> Thanks for reading.

Chapter 3  
He’d been hiding out, alone in the forest for 2 days before the storm hit. He’d lived on what nuts and berries he could find but now he was hungry, cold and wet. He crept closer to the battered double wide trailer that was home, alert all the time for any sign of movement. As he drew closer he could see no sign of his father’s rusting old truck and allowed himself a sigh of relief. He moved into the open and made a dash through the rain to the door. Closing it behind him he shook the water from his overlong hair and pulled open the nearest cupboard, searching for something to eat. He crammed stale crackers into his mouth and turned to go to his room for dry clothes.  
He’d taken no more than a dozen steps when a hand grabbed his hair from behind, yanking him back violently.  
“So you’ve come back have yer?” His father’s voice was slurred, the smell of alcohol on his breath almost overpowering as he dragged his son back into the small kitchen.  
“Yer come back and thought you could just steal the food from my cupboards did yer?” He let go of the boy’s hair and backhanded him across the face, sending the skinny child face first into the wall.  
“I’ll teach yer you can’t just walk in and help yerself to stuff that aint yours” He lashed out again, striking the boy in the lower back, sending him to his knees  
“Yer thought I weren’t here didn’t yer? Didn’t see the truck, thought yer could just march in and take what you wanted.” This time it was his booted foot that slammed into the boy’s back.  
“Piece of crap truck broke down, had to walk home, aint feeling too happy about that” The boy felt the heavy foot pushing down on his back, holding him in place as he heard the click of a lighter. He smelled the smoke from the cigarette as the man towering over him took a long pull before leaning over his squirming son.  
“You know what happens when I aint happy don’t yer boy?” His hand reached down pressing the lit cigarette to the exposed flesh on the boy’s arm, smiling as the flesh blistered and burned.  
The beating and punishment was long and brutal, only stopping when the man passed out on the kitchen table, the booze finally catching up with him. The boy dragged his battered body across the floor and somehow managed to pull himself to his feet. Clutching his damaged ribs he stumbled outside, desperate to get away. He hadn’t got far when his legs buckled and he fell, this time he couldn’t get up and he lay there in the rain, until everything went black.  
This time when Daryl woke from the nightmare he found his face wet and angrily scrubbed the tears away. He knew they weren’t for himself but for the only person who ever showed him kindness in his childhood. He didn’t want to think of her but his mind wouldn’t co-operate and he found the thoughts filling his head.  
After that last beating and passing out in the street he’d come round to find himself lying in a soft, clean bed. A damp cloth was resting on his forehead and gentle hands were combing through his filthy, matted hair. With a cry of fear he’d tried to get up and a firm but kind hand had pushed him back down.  
“Hush child, no one’s going to hurt you now” a soft voice spoke and he realised it was the old woman who lived a few trailers down from his.  
“That animal isn’t going to touch you again” she reassured him as she helped him sit and take a few sips of iced water.  
“I found you out in the street in the rain” she told him “So I bought you back here and cleaned you up as best I could. You’ve got a couple of broken ribs so I strapped them up” her expression was sad as she looked down at him.  
“So many burns, so many cuts and bruises. How long has he been doing this to you?”  
He shrugged painfully.  
“Long as I can remember” he mumbled, refusing to meet her eyes. She suddenly reached out and pulled him into her arms, holding him close as her fingers stroked the back of his head.  
“It’s okay now. I’m not going to let him hurt you again. As soon as the storm’s passed we’ll go into town, get you checked out by a Doctor. We’ll find somewhere safe for you to go, you won’t have to see him ever again” Hesitantly he reached out, wrapping his skinny arms around her, allowing himself to sink into the warm embrace.  
Daryl pushed the memories deep back inside his mind, there was a run planned for today and it wouldn’t do for him to be distracted by thoughts of the past. He pulled himself from the bed and began to gather what he needed for the day ahead.  
Two hours later and he was on the bike, leading a small convoy of vehicles towards a town he and Aaron had come across on one of their recruiting runs. There was a small grocery store tucked down a side street that for some reason had remained almost untouched and they planned to clear it out of anything useful. Rick was in the car behind him, Michonne at his side as usual and Aaron was bringing up the rear in a large truck borrowed from the construction team. Daryl could see Jasmine through the van’s windshield, laughing at something the man said and he wondered again if it was a good idea to have bought the town’s only medic with them. She’d arrived as they were about to leave and pleaded to be allowed to come with them, saying she was going stir crazy stuck behind the walls and finally Rick had relented, telling her to stick close to Aaron and to do exactly as she was told. Now she was laughing and joking as if they were on nothing more than a shopping trip to the mall and he was surprised by how much it irritated him.  
His angry musings were interrupted by the sight of several vehicles blocking the road ahead. The blockage hadn’t been there the last time he and Aaron had driven this stretch of road and as he carefully maneuvered the bike through the haphazardly abandoned cars he realised this was no accident. The vehicles had been placed deliberately to obstruct any travellers. He pulled to the side of the road and climbed off the bike, raising his crossbow as he made his way back to where Rick was waiting on the other side.  
“Is there a way through?” The constable asked.  
“Only if we move some of these heaps of junk outta the way” Daryl told him as he scanned the treeline, eyes alert for any sign of those who had caused the obstruction.  
“Need to stay sharp though, these aint here by accident”  
Quickly they began to move the cars, pushing them to the side, making just enough room to get their vehicles through. They had almost finished when the first people attacked. There were at least a dozen of them, men and women armed with machetes, knives and bats and they swarmed out of the trees weapons swinging. Rick noticed they all had the letter W carved onto their foreheads, like the walker Carol had killed just outside the town.  
Michonnes katana was in her hand in an instant, scything through the attackers. Daryl took two out with his crossbow but more poured from the forest and he had no time to reset it, instead using the heavy weapon as a club.  
Reluctantly Rick drew his gun and fired repeatedly at the group, knowing the noise would probably draw walkers but seeing no other choice. Aaron joined in, firing until one managed to get behind him and swing his machete down, the blade slicing into the Alexandrians arm making him drop his weapon with a cry of pain. At once Michonne was at his side, decapitating the attacker, defending the injured man.  
“Drop your weapons or I’ll slit her pretty little throat!” The hoarse voice made Daryl glance up. He cursed when he saw Jasmine being held by one of the men, a knife tight against her neck, an arm clamped across her stomach.  
Risking a glance at Rick Daryl saw the indecision on his face as he weighed up the odds of a clear shot without hurting Jasmine. There wasn’t one. Straightening his back he began to lower his gun when the woman moved, surprising them all.  
She gripped the man’s hand holding the knife and wrenched it down, at the same time throwing her head back and slamming it into his face. He gave a cry of pain and loosened his grip on her. At once she drove her elbow hard into his stomach and bought her heel down on his foot, stamping hard on his toes. He yelped and let go of her doubling up in pain. Quickly she moved to the side and locked both hands together as she brought them down on the base of his neck. As he crumpled to the ground she gave a satisfied grin and couldn’t resist a hard kick to the fallen man’s ribs.  
At once Rick bought his gun up again, firing at the seemingly never ending group. A familiar groan made him look up and he saw the first walkers heading towards them, drawn by the sounds of the fight. Within seconds there were more they they could deal with. Rick and Michonne flanked the injured Aaron as they fought their way back to the cars, taking out walkers and people as they needed to clear a path. A desperate glance around revealed Daryl and Jasmine trapped on the other side of a large number of walkers. He saw Daryl grab the woman’s arm and push her towards the bike as they both fought their way through the hoards of walkers. The screams of the men as they were attacked and the guttural moans of the undead drowned out Daryl’s voice as he tried to call to Rick, telling him to take the cars and head back to the town, that he would find his own way back with Jasmine. Even without words Rick understood his meaning. Reluctantly he and Michonne loaded the injured Aaron into the car and she set off, racing down the road to get the bleeding man the help he needed, all too aware that the only person with any medical training was on the other side of a pack of walkers.  
Shoving a walker away from him as he climbed into the cab of the truck Rick took a final glance towards his friends. He saw Jasmine climb onto the bike as Daryl plunged his knife into a walker’s head before swinging his leg over the saddle. Satisfied they were going to be alright he started the engine and turned the truck around, heading back towards Alexandria.  
Daryl kick started the bike, pleased when the engine caught first time but before he could pull away a heavy weight crashed into them, toppling the motorcycle and sending him and Jasmine onto the pavement. He rolled to one side, yanking his knife from its sheath as walkers surrounded them. He saw Jasmine struggling to pull her leg free from where it was trapped under the heavy bike. A walker was reaching for her and he threw himself to his feet managing to drive his blade into it’s skull before it took a chunk out of her arm.  
He fought wildly and managed to clear a space around them. As he turned to lift the bike a blow to his back bought him to his knees. He dived sideways as a machete flashed down, missing his head by millimeters, sparks flying as it hit the road surface instead. The man that had grabbed Jasmine was standing over him, already raising the weapon for another blow. Daryl swept his legs out, knocking the man’s feet from under him. He dived on him and grabbed his arm, pinning it down so he was unable to use the machete, at the same time raining blows onto his head.  
Walkers were reaching for them, grabbing at their clothes, trying to rip chunks out of them as they desperately scrabbled and rolled on the dusty blacktop, each trying to get the upper hand. The man lost his grip on the machete and it was kicked away from them by the many feet of the walkers gathered around them.  
In a last desperate attempt to escape and steal the bike the man managed to throw Daryl away from him, straight into the arms of a grasping walker. Daryl struggled free and lunged at the man, who had grabbed the fallen bike and righted it, intent on using it for his own escape. As Daryl grabbed him and yanked him away from the vehicle he was suddenly aware there was no sign of Jasmine. He had no time to dwell on her whereabouts as the man suddenly grinned at him and lunged forward, the knife in his hand flashing. Daryl jumped back, stumbling over a fallen body and landing heavily on his back. The man dropped down, straddling the fallen archer as he raised the knife and Daryl threw up his arms to protect himself. The blade flashed down just as the man’s gleeful expression turned to one of first surprise, than pain and he slumped forward his body covering Daryl’s.  
A walker crawled forward, arms outstretched as it reached for the two fallen men, a second dropped to it’s knees at Daryl’s side, it’s mouth gnashing and snarling as it moved closer. The hunter managed to shove the motionless body toward the closest threat and at once it’s teeth sank into the still warm flesh. A hand grabbed his arm, trying to pull him to his feet and he saw Jasmine, still holding the bat she had used to strike the man.  
“Come on!” she yelled as he scrambled to his feet and she used the bat to take out the crawling walker. He pulled the bike upright again, annoyed to see new scratches and a couple of dents on the fuel tank.  
He jumped on and kick started it quickly, pulling alongside Jasmine as she kept the walkers away. As she turned to climb on behind him a walker lunged forward, it’s teeth sinking into the thick fabric of her jacket. She squirmed out of the short coat letting it fall to the ground as they accelerated away.  
They rode in silence, weaving down side roads trying to find a way back to the town, all the time making sure they weren’t being followed. The sky was darkening rapidly and the temperature dropped quickly, soon it was raining heavily, reducing visibility to a dangerous level.  
Daryl felt Jasmine shiver against his back and realised she was now only in a short sleeved shirt, the rain soaking through the cotton fabric. He steered into the first side road he saw, following a dirt track for a mile or so and eventually a farm house came into view. Still hidden in the trees they studied it for a while before deciding to take the risk of approaching the empty looking house. Daryl cruised slowly around to the rear of the property and they saw the back door was wide open.  
Without speaking they dismounted and made their way inside. A quick search revealed the house to be empty. Daryl wheeled the motorcycle into the kitchen, shoving the table to one side as he turned it so it was facing the exit in case they needed a quick escape as Jasmine closed the door behind them, jamming a kitchen chair under the handle in an attempt to barricade it shut.  
Daryl grabbed a grubby dishcloth from the counter and began to wipe the worse of the wet from the bikes bodywork, frowning again at the damage caused when the man had knocked it over.  
“I’m going to see if there’s anything dry we can wear” Jasmine hid her amusement over the care he was taking of the inanimate object while he was soaked through and clearly cold. He gave a grunt in response and she headed upstairs.  
When she returned a short while later he was going through the cupboards hopefully looking for something to eat.  
“Aint nothing here, place has been stripped” he told her, noting she was now wearing a baggy sweatshirt and some oversized sweat pants that swamped her slight figure. She rubbed at her hair with a towel as she picked up the small bag she always wore from the table.  
“Got a couple of energy bars and some jerky in here, that’ll keep us going until we get home”  
As they ate she nodded towards his wet hair and clothes.  
“You should go upstairs and dry off, I put some clothes that should fit you on the bed” She hid her surprise when he just gave a brief nod and headed upstairs without arguing for once.  
Jasmine finished her snack bar and tossed the wrapper to one side as she tried to untangle her long hair with her fingers to no avail. Vaguely she remembered seeing a hairbrush in the small bathroom and headed upstairs. She passed the single bedroom, noting the closed door and assumed Daryl was still changing. Without thinking she barged into the bathroom, stopping dead at the sight in front of her.  
Daryl was leaning over the basin, his shirt on the floor at his feet, his bare back in full view. Jasmine couldn’t help but notice the scars that criss crossed over his flesh, some long and jagged and many others small and round, everyone clearly old and suddenly everything about him became a whole lot clearer. The professional in her clinically assessed the obvious signs of abuse, now understanding his attitude and defensive behaviour, understanding why he wouldn’t let anyone close to him, why he wouldn’t trust anyone and why he clearly had such a low opinion of himself.  
The human side of her felt nothing but sympathy, her heart aching at what she imagined his life must have been like and she had to fight the urge to throw her arms round him and show him some small gesture of comfort.  
“You seen enough?” His voice was rough, anger edged with shame and she forced her gaze up, away from his back. Her eyes met his in the mirror above the basin and she made sure she held his angry stare.  
“I’m sorry, I thought you were in the bedroom” she said calmly “I only came for the hair brush”  
He snatched it up from the shelf under the mirror and threw it at her.  
“Now get the hell out!” he snarled as he turned slightly, bending to pick up his discarded shirt.  
Jasmine was about to leave when she saw him flinch as he reached down.  
“Are you hurt?” she asked, instinctively moving closer.  
“Aint nothin’” Daryl grabbed his shirt and stood, trying and failing to hold back the small groan of pain caused by the movement.  
Jasmine stepped forward and pulled the shirt from his hands, eyes widening in shock at the long gash across his lower chest.  
“When did this happen?” At once she was reaching for the wash cloth Daryl had been about to use, soaking it with water from the bottle he’d bought upstairs with him.  
“Bastard got me with a blade just before you smacked him over the head” Daryl admitted “Figured I’d sort it when we got back to town”  
“You should have said something” Jasmine scolded as she dropped to her knees in front of him, leaning in to get a better look as she began to carefully clean the wound up.  
“It’s not deep but still needs to be cleaned and covered, you can’t take the risk of it getting infected”  
Daryl looked down at the woman in front of him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she concentrated on cleaning the wound, her long fingers gently probing the skin either side of the cut as she checked it over. He squirmed uncomfortably, trying to push aside the dirty thoughts that had popped unbidden into his head at her position and closeness.  
“Hold still, I don’t want to hurt you” her voice was sharp, breaking him from the unwanted daydream.  
“Didn’t ask you to help” he muttered “Was sorting it myself ‘till you barged in”  
“Don’t be a baby” Jasmine rose to her feet, heading to the door “Wait here while I find something to use as a bandage”  
She wasn’t surprised to find the bathroom empty when she returned a few moments later with a relatively clean towel found in a drawer in the kitchen and a roll of tape taken from the saddlebag of the bike.  
The bedroom door was shut and she tapped lightly on it.  
“I’m coming in whatever you say” she announced “only knocking to give you a chance to cover up if you need to”  
She smiled when the only response was a muffled curse and pushed the door open. Daryl was standing by the window, now wearing one of the shirts she’d found and put out for him. It was still unbuttoned so she took that as a sign it was okay to tend to him.  
He continued to stare out the window as she ripped the towel into usable lengths and covered the wound, holding it in place with strips of tape.  
“Rain aint gonna let up, best we stay here tonight” he told her gruffly when she’d finished.  
“Okay” She glanced at his face, seeing the signs of exhaustion there, the shadows under his eyes dark and heavy and she was sure he was swaying on his feet as he leant on the wall.  
“Why don’t you get some sleep while I take first watch?” she suggested “I’ll wake you in a few hours”  
Daryl didn’t want to sleep while she was there, didn’t want to take the risk of another nightmare but he was just so tired he could hardly stand. Reluctantly he headed to the dusty bed and lay back. Within minutes he was sound asleep, leaving Jasmine peering out the window, keeping watch through the rain.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
He burrowed further into the bed, enjoying the feel of soft clean blankets against his still aching body. The boy allowed himself a small smile as he drifted off to sleep again. For the first time he could remember he felt safe and warm, his belly almost painfully full. He’d found out the old woman’s name was Isabella, which he thought was pretty but she told him it was too much of a mouthful and he was to call her Bella. She’d come from a wealthy family ending up on the trailer park when her husband had died, leaving her with nothing but a pile of debts and she’d been forced to sell her home in the suburbs to pay off all his creditors. There had been barely enough left to buy the run down trailer she now lived in but she had managed to make it into a warm and welcoming home.  
“He was a good man” she told him “Didn’t have a clue when it came to investing money but well meaning and good to me. Never raised his voice or a fist to me in 36 years of marriage” she gave a low chuckle “and believe me, back in my younger days, I could be a bit of a handful” Looking at her he found he could believe it.  
The pounding woke him abruptly, Bella was at his side, a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he heard the familiar voice bellowing from outside the flimsy door.  
“I know you got that snot nosed brat of mine in there. Open the damn door ‘fore I break it down” The words were slurred and he knew that, once again, his father was drunk.  
“Stay in here, don’t come out, no matter what you hear” Pulling her robe tighter around her tiny frame Bella closed the door to the small bedroom behind her. At once he was out of the bed, easing the door open a crack so he could peer out.  
He saw her take a deep breath and pull herself to her full height of 5 foot nothing as she yanked the front door open revealing his father leaning arrogantly on the door frame.  
“Took yer damn time” he sneered “Where’s that piece ‘o shit pussy I call son hiding out?”  
Bella glared at him, showing no sign of the fear she felt inside as the aggressive, drunken man loomed over her.  
“Firstly Mr Dixon, I don’t appreciate you pounding on my door at this ungodly time in the morning, especially the state you’re in” Bella was pleased her voice held no tremor as she stood up to the bully in front of her.  
“And secondly what makes you think your son might be here?”   
The elder Dixon pushed himself upright and stepped into her space,  
“Neighbour over the road said he saw you dragging his sorry little ass in here last night. Brat belongs to me and I want him back. Gotta finish teaching him a lesson ‘bout takin’ what don’t belong to him” He shoved his face close to hers  
“Where is he?”  
Bella put her hands on his chest and shoved him back.  
“He’s gone” she lied “and if he was here do you really think I’d let you take him? I can guess exactly what you mean by teaching him a lesson, I saw the bruises, the burns and the cuts. You’re a disgrace for a man who doesn’t deserve to have been blessed with a child” She turned away about to shut the door in his face.  
“He ran sometime during the night, I have no idea when. Now get off my doorstep” she demanded.  
Watching through the crack in the door the boy willed her to keep quiet, he recognised the signs and knew his Pa was about to lose it.  
“Go, before I call the authorities and report you for the abuse you’ve piled on that poor child” His heart sank at her words.  
His Father moved faster than he thought possible in his drunken condition. In one motion he’d barged into the trailer, pushing Bella back, slamming the door behind him as he pinned her against the edge of a table.  
“You think you can threaten me, you stuck up, dried up old bitch?” he snarled as he raised his fist. Before the blow landed the child dashed from the room and grabbed his arm, pulling his hand away from the frightened woman.  
“Don’t hurt her!” the boy yelled as he tried to pull his father away. A blow from the man’s other hand sent the child flying.  
“Well look what’s crawled out from behind her skirts” His father advanced on him “You aint no Dixon, hiding behind some old lady like a snivelling little pussy” His foot lashed out, catching the child in the stomach, causing pain to flare through his already damaged ribs.   
“Yer comin’ home with me now so we can finish what we started” he reached out and seized a handful of tee shirt, hurling the boy to his feet.  
“Leave him be!” Bella launched herself at them, her frail arms pulling at the angry man’s hands, trying to make him let go of the child.  
With a roar his Father shoved her away, her slight weight no match for his alcohol fuelled anger and strength. She lost her footing and stumbled back, unable to keep her balance. Her head struck the edge of the table by the door and she hit the floor with a small cry.  
“Bella!” the boy cried as he managed to twist free from his father’s grip and run to her side. He dropped to his knees, not caring about the blood that was soaking into his pants as it seeped from under her head, slowly spreading across the floor.  
Her eyes flickered open, her gaze meeting his.  
“Run child, run from here now” she whispered, her eyes closing once more.  
“Bella, wake up” he shook her shoulder, knowing the tears that were falling would get him another beating but not caring as he tried to wake the only person who had ever shown him any kindness.  
“Damn it!!” a hand dug into his thin shoulder, painfully pulling him to his feet.  
“We gotta get out of here now”   
Blankly he let his father haul him from the trailer and across the street. Once back in his own pitiful home he was dragged into the small back yard to the shed they used to skin and cure the animals they hunted. As his father hurled him inside he snarled at him.  
“That was on you. You hadn’t hid away like some little coward she’d still be alright. I might have shoved her but you’re the one killed her. You think on that while yer in here”   
The door was locked shut and he was left alone.

Daryl jolted awake, breathing hard, still feeling the pain and guilt at Bella’s death. His father had left him in the dark, cold shed for 3 days with no food or water. When he’d finally let him out he told him he’d covered for him when the police began to investigate Bella’s murder. He was kept locked away in their filthy trailer for weeks, unable to even look outside so it was a while before he discovered his pa had gone back to Bella’s trailer and ransacked it, stealing anything of value, selling it and using the money for drugs and booze, before setting fire to it, burning both Bella’s body and any evidence. It was months before he discovered the police had barely bothered to investigate the death, putting it down to nothing more than a tragic accident.  
As his breathing calmed Daryl became aware of a soft touch on his face. He forced his eyes open to find Jasmine sitting on the bed at his side. Her hand was brushing the hair from his face, her thumb wiping away tears he hadn’t realised were falling.  
She gave him a gentle smile as she removed her thumb but remained sitting next to him, her hand now resting on his shoulder.  
“Must have been a hell of a nightmare” she commented.  
He gave a brief nod, embarrassed to have been seen so vulnerable.  
“Aint talkin’ ‘bout it” he mumbled “Don’t even bother askin’”  
“I wasn’t going to” Jasmine moved away, giving him the space she knew he needed to recover. After a few minutes of awkward silence she couldn’t resist asking.  
“Who was Bella?”  
The look he gave her would have made most people run but she held her ground,  
“Aint none of your business and already said aint talking about it” She noticed his his southern accent became much rougher when he was angry or stressed.  
“Alright” she turned away “Though people do find it helps to get these things out. Maybe talking about it will stop the nightmares. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time is it?”  
He ignored her, instead going to the window and glancing out.  
“Rains stopped,we should pack up and get ready to move out at first light” he brushed past her, heading back to the kitchen and with a sigh she followed.  
The ride back to Alexandria took a few hours and Glenn was waiting for their return. The teasing he’d been planning at their overnight stay alone stuck in his throat when he saw the angry expression on Daryl’s face as he dismounted and stormed into the house without a word.  
“You okay?” he asked Jasmine, helping her with her bag as she climbed from the bike.  
“I’m fine” she managed a small smile “Tired and dirty but unhurt” she nodded towards the house.  
“He’s injured and I’m pretty sure he won’t come back to me so please keep an eye on him. Let Carol know, she seems to have some sway with him” Jasmine took her bag from Glenn and headed to her house, wanting nothing more than food and a hot shower.  
Daryl threw his crossbow onto his bed and began pacing the small room he called his own. The last nightmare had stayed with him for a long time after he awoke, memories of Bella refusing to go away. He’d only been in her home for a few hours but it was probably the best time of his whole shitty childhood. The guilt of her death had eaten away at him for years. Part of him knew it wasn’t his fault but his father’s words still stuck in his head.  
“That was on you”  
“...you’re the one that killed her”  
Those days locked in the small shed scared, hungry and dehydrated, still in pain from broken ribs and burns, they were all he could hear. After letting him out his asshole father had reminded him about it at every opportunity, not letting up and even now he still felt the pain of seeing her lying there, blood pooling around her, soaking into his pants as he tried helplessly to wake her.   
He was suddenly pulled from his dark thoughts by the sound of screams. Scooping up his weapon he headed outside, running into Rick on the porch.  
“Hell’s going on?” he yelled over the sounds of gunfire and shouts.  
“They came over the wall, started hacking people to death. Looks like the same group that attacked us yesterday” Rick fired his colt, taking out a man just before he swung his machete into a fleeing woman’s back. Jumping from the porch, watching each others backs, the two of them began to fight their way through the town. None of those attacking had guns but they weren’t afraid to use their axes and blades. Not only did they kill indiscriminately they appeared to take great pleasure in dismembering the bodies as well. More than once Rick felt the bile rise to the back of his throat at the sight of limbs severed from bodies, especially on the one occasion it was obvious the limbs were those of a child.  
He heard Daryl’s sharp intake of breath at the sight.  
“These are some sick bastards” the archer muttered as he shot another, trying to chase down one of the townsfolk.  
Finally the immediate threat was over and they split up, searching each house for casualties or any remaining invaders.   
Without planning to Daryl found himself outside Jasmine’s house. His heart sank when he saw the front door was wide open. Slinging his crossbow over his shoulder and drawing his gun he approached cautiously. Downstairs was clear, no sign of any disturbance but on the stairs he found a body. As he plunged his knife into the man’s head he noticed the deep cut on his temple.   
He continued upstairs, finding both bedrooms empty before making his way into the bathroom. The room was warm and humid, the shower cubicle still wet and the man’s body on the floor was still, a knife protruding from his stomach. Daryl pulled the knife free and used it to finish the corpse off. He straightened and moved into the hallway, unsure where to go next and finding himself concerned for the missing woman.  
The movement behind him was subtle, barely enough for him to hear and react to. He ducked and twisted sideways, raising the pistol as the heavy lamp aimed at his skull hit the wall where his head would have been, showering him with bits of plaster and woodwork.  
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” The lamp hit the floor as Jasmine stumbled back, her eyes wide and panicked as she realise who it was.  
“I thought you were another one of them” she tried to explain as he glared reproachfully at her, more relieved to see her unharmed than he had any right to be.  
“Hell happened here?” he demanded  
She shivered and it was then he noticed she was only wearing a short bathrobe, tied loosely around her waist. There was a lot of leg and cleavage on show and he averted his eyes, looking into her face. She seemed to realise at the same time, pulling it tighter around her body and retying the belt. He couldn’t help notice the blush that coloured her face and found himself thinking how appealing she looked. Quickly he shoved those thoughts deep into his mind, wondering where the hell they had come from in the first place.  
“Sorry” she apologised again “I was in the shower, didn’t even know anything was wrong until I stepped out and found a man in the bathroom” she blushed again at the thought of the grinning stranger standing there staring at her as she stepped naked from the shower.  
“In a way it was good because he was distracted looking at me and I managed to get his knife and stab him. I grabbed the robe and was going to make a run for it when I heard another one coming up the stairs. I snatched up the lamp and waited until he was at the top then I hit him as hard as I could. When he fell back and didn’t move I hid in the hall closet”   
“You did good” he told her, noticing how her hands were shaking “better than a lot of them out there could do”  
Before he could move she stepped into his space, leaning against him and wrapping her arms around his waist.  
“I was so scared” she whispered into his chest “I’ve never killed a person before and now I’ve killed two” her voice broke and he guessed she was close to tears.   
He knew all she wanted was someone to comfort her, nothing more than a reassuring hug but he couldn’t do it. For a few seconds he stood there frozen, his hands stubbornly by his side before he lifted them and pulled her arms from his waist.  
“Gotta go” he mumbled, ignoring her surprised, tearful face as he fled from the room. He felt like a total douchbag as he ran from the house. All she wanted was a friend and he couldn’t even do that.  
“Is she okay?” Marcie and Coop were running towards the house, Eugene trailing along behind.  
Marcie grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.  
“Is she okay?”she repeated the concern in her voice obvious.   
“She aint hurt, just had a bit of a rough time, probably needs a friend about now” he managed as he pulled his arm free. Marcie and Eugene hurried into the house leaving Coop outside. Daryl looked up and saw the big man studying him intently.  
“Meant what I said, you hurt in in any way and you got me to answer to” he said softly, the threat clear.  
“Aint gonna lay a finger on her, I aint like that” he said, annoyed that Coop would think so little of him.  
“There’s more ways to hurt someone than physical” Coop gave him a dark look “You just watch yourself around her, she’s like a kid sister to me. I aint gonna see her upset” Without a further word he walked away, climbing the porch steps and disappearing into the house leaving Daryl staring after him, wondering what the hell he’d meant.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl finally opens up to Jasmine. Referred child abuse once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for delay in updating, found this one tricky to write and still not totally happy with it. Lot's of conversation and not much action. Would love to know what you think, even if you hate it. I've tried to keep Daryl in character as much as possible, hopefully I've done okay.  
> Last chapter should be up in the next few days.  
> Thank you to all the wonderful people who left kudos and for the lovely comments, it's really appreciated.   
> Enjoy.

Chapter 5  
He hugged his legs against his chest as he huddled on the bed, his back flush against the wall. He could hear the men’s laughter fading and knew it wouldn’t be long before his father came for him. He knew he was in for a beating for bringing the cops to their crappy trailer home.  
Weeks after Bella’s death his Pa had grabbed him by the throat and shoved him violently against the wall, pinning him in place as he screamed into his face.  
“Yer a useless waste o’space, aint fit to be called a Dixon” he ranted “Nuthin’ but a good for nothing piece of crap. Figure yer Mama played away from home ‘cos you aint no son of mine” With that he’d backed handed the boy and sent him to the floor.  
“Get yer worthless ass up and go get me some booze” he demanded.  
“I got no money Pa” He said timidly as he tried to pull himself to his feet. The kick caught him in the ribs, sending him down again.  
“Use yer damn brain Boy!” his pa had stared down at him, a sneer on his face.  
“Yer brother don’t ever have cash when he goes to the store and he always manages” With a final kick the man turned away.  
“Do what yer have too but don’t come back without a bottle or two”  
Painfully he’d got to his feet and limped the mile into town. He’d gone into the general store and wandered around aimlessly, not sure what to do next. Finally he’d plucked up the courage to snatch up a bottle of Jack and try to hide it under his thin jacket. He was no thief and inevitably the storekeeper had spotted him, grabbing at his collar as he tried to leave the store.  
The bottle crashed to the ground as he squirmed free from the man’s grip. As he fled he heard the man bellowing behind him.  
“I know who you are, another of those damn, thieving, lowlife Dixon’s. Don’t think I won’t report this”  
Not knowing what else to do, still afraid of his father’s threats to hurt Merle if he ran, he returned home empty handed. He managed to slip unnoticed into his room where he huddled on his bed and waited.  
It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of a vehicle pull up and car doors slamming. Peering out of the grimey window he saw the two cops approach the door. His father reluctantly let them in and he returned to the bed, trying to stop the shaking that overtook his skinny body.  
He was surprised to hear laughter, not shouting and allowed himself a small amount of hope that it would be alright. Finally the laughter stopped as the cops made their way to the door.  
“I’ll tell the asshole at the store there’s no evidence it was your boy he saw. That you said he’s been home all day so he must have got it wrong” The cops voice was friendly, a hint of laughter as he continued.  
“If you’re gonna send him out again, might be best to get Merle to give him a few pointers first, sounds like he don’t have a clue.”  
“Boy’s nothin’ more than a damn embarrassment” his father growled “wish he’d man up and grow a pair, stop being a snivelling little pussy”  
There was more laughter as they moved away.  
“See you later at the bar?” The cop asked “You can buy me a beer as thanks for sorting this”  
He heard his father give a grunt of acknowledgment then the door was slammed.  
The police car engine had barely started before his door was thrown open and his father was there, towering over him, face twisted in rage.  
“Gonna teach you a lesson for bringing the cops to my door” he snarled as he unbuckled his belt, snapping it free and advancing on the now cowering child. This time he didn’t fold it in half and wrap it around his hand, this time he used the buckle, the metal biting into tender flesh time and again. He kept going until his son was barely conscious, his back a bleeding, torn mess.  
Finally it was over.  
“Yer lucky the Cop they sent’s a drinking buddy o’mine able to sort this out, else you’d be looking at time in juvie right now” the man replaced his belt and reached for the semi conscious boy, hurling him to his feet.  
“They’d like a pretty lil’ thing like you behind bars. Use you up good and proper” He told him casually as he dragged him outside and threw him into the small outbuilding once more.  
“Maybe I should let that happen, let you learn the hard way not to screw up again”  
With that the door was slammed shut and he heard the click of the padlock as he was left alone once more.  
It was the gentle knock on the door that woke him this time.  
“Daryl, you awake? It’s time for your watch” Rick’s voice called softly.  
He stumbled to his feet, scrubbing at his gritty eyes as he pulled open the door.  
“You okay? You look like shit” Rick asked, his concern obvious. “You gonna be alright or you want me to get someone else to take your shift?”  
Daryl snatched up his crossbow and pushed past the constable.  
“I got this, leave me be” he muttered as he headed outside.  
He’d only been on watch for an hour or so when someone climbed the ladder to the newly installed watch platform, one of several hurriedly built after the attack on the town and the acceptance of the townsfolk that they weren’t as safe as they had always believed.  
“Hi” Jasmine said quietly as she made her way to his side. He ignored her as he leant on the corrugated metal wall, eyes scanning the surrounding area.  
“Rick said you came out without eating or drinking first so I bought you this” she held up a foil wrapped packet and a thermos.  
“It’s just a sandwich and some pretty bad coffee but it’s something to keep you going” When he continued to ignore her she tucked the items on the floor against the wall.  
“I’ll leave them there until you’re ready” she straightened and approached him again, unfolding the blanket that was tucked under her arm.  
“It’s going to be cold tonight, you’ll need this” she commented as she reached up to wrap it over his shoulders.  
At once he recoiled away as if he’d been hit, pushing her back.  
“Don’t touch me” he snarled  
“Okay, I’m sorry” Jasmine held up her hands, offering him the blanket. “Just keep it nearby, in case you want it later”  
He glared at her “Don’t want no damn blanket. Why’d you keep fussin’ over me? You think I’m too dumb to look after myself?”  
She shook her head with a small smile.  
“I think you’re so busy looking after everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself. I know you go without to make sure the others have what they need, how you’ve risked your life time and again to keep them safe”  
She folded the blanket and set it next to the food.  
“Maybe it’s time you let someone take care of you for once” As she turned towards the ladder she barely heard his muttered comment.  
“Aint good for anyone to care for me, I’m bad news”  
She faced him again, noting he was staring at the ground, shifting uncomfortably.  
“What do you mean?” she asked quietly “How are you bad news?”  
“Bad things happen to anyone who gets too close to me” he risked a peek at her then dropped his eyes again at her intense look.  
“Like who?” Jasmine asked, sensing he was close to talking to her and not wanting to scare him off.  
“Don’t matter” he turned away, once again looking over the wall.  
“You mean Beth?” she risked. At once his back stiffened and he spun to face her.  
“The hell you know about Beth?” he demanded.  
“I know the two of you were alone for a while, I know she went missing and I know she was killed. The others told me about her. Maggie talks about her a lot. She told me you blame yourself for her being taken” She saw the pain in his face but pushed on.  
“She says she doesn’t blame you, she knows you would have done everything you could to keep her safe, that you……”  
“Didn’t though, did I?” Daryl took several strides towards her, anger replacing pain.  
“I screwed up and she died. She trusted me to keep her safe and I failed her, just like I failed Sophia”  
“Carol’s daughter?” Jasmine took a chance and rested her hand on his arm.  
“She told me what you did, how you almost died searching for her baby. She told me you were the only one that didn’t give up hope of finding that little girl and how you shut yourself away from everyone when that poor child came out of the barn. You did your best by both of them. What happened wasn’t your fault”  
He pulled his arm free and backed away, lowering his head.  
“Maybe, but Bella was on me” he said softly.  
“You want to tell me about her?” Jasmine gave him his space waiting for his reply. He was silent for so long she thought he wasn’t going to say anything else when he suddenly blurted out.  
“She was the old woman lived a few doors away and about the only good thing I can remember from when I was a kid” He leant on the wall, staring straight ahead as he began to speak.  
“Only knew her for a few hours but she was good to me, took care of me, fed me” he glanced at the woman by his side.  
“She was gonna help me get away from my bastard old man” he admitted.  
“What happened?” Jasmine stood next to him, close but not touching.  
“She died and it was my fault” his voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat to hide it. He suddenly found himself telling her her the whole story, unable to stop the words that poured from his mouth. When he’d finished she reached up and lay her hand on his cheek, turning his face to hers.  
“It was not your fault, you did not kill her, your Father did. It was all on him. He said it was your fault because you were hiding in her home. If he hadn’t beaten you then you wouldn’t have been there in the first place so that’s on him as well”  
He shook his head, refusing to accept her words.  
”He beat me ‘cos I was a no good, useless kid. If I’d been a better son he wouldn’t of had to smack me about so much”  
“Stop!” Jasmine’s voice was angry “That’s him talking. There is no excuse for a father to beat his child into unconsciousness, never a good enough reason to make that acceptable”  
He turned away again, suddenly unable to look at her. The sudden urge to unburden everything became unbearable.  
“The beatin’s were the best bit” His voice was so quiet she had to lean closer to hear him.  
“What do you mean?” Jasmine asked, a suspicion already forming in her mind. She’d seen people like him before, knew what made them the way they were. They were some of the hardest cases she had to deal with in her practice in DC, the ones she’d found the most difficult to cope with.  
“My pa had a big problem with drugs and booze. Turned to them when my Mama died in a fire and got himself hooked. Lost his job and most of his friends. Ended up living in a shitty little trailer on a park on the wrong side o’ town. Got himself a reputation as a thieving, violent asshole, my brother weren’t much better either. Folk thought the same about me, just ‘cos I was a Dixon”  
Jasmine heard the bitterness in his voice and knew he resented being thought of as the same as the rest of his family.  
“Got so bad he couldn’t cope without his fix, took it out on Merle mostly ‘til he got himself sent to juvie for the first time. Then it was just me as a punching bag” He stopped, swallowing hard and Jasmine reached for the thermos, pouring him a cup of the weak, tepid coffee.  
He took a couple of sips before continuing.  
“Guess I was about 8 or 9 the first time, scared little kid, didn’t know what the hell was goin’ on. Somehow Pa had found himself a dealer with certain tastes and he didn’t have to pay for his fix anymore. Dealer liked to get his kicks in other ways as well, liked to use a belt on me, liked to hear me cry and beg for him to stop. I never did though, wasn’t gonna give him that.”  
His fingers gripped the wall, nails digging into the steel as he relived the nightmare experiences of his childhood. He became aware of Jasmine taking hold of his hands, prizing his grip from the metal and he saw the blood running from under ripped finger nails.  
“I’m so sorry” Jasmine whispered as she kept a firm hold of his hands, stopping him from hurting himself further.  
“Went on ‘til I turned ‘bout 13, then I got too old for his likin’. Pa couldn’t get his hit anymore so the thrashin’s got worse. That’s when Bella came along and tried to help, that’s when she died. Weren’t long after that he tried to get me to go steal booze for him. I weren’t no thief and almost got caught trying to lift a bottle of Jack D. Cops came to the house and that’s the day he used the buckle for the first time. Locked me in the shed again, no food, only water came from what leaked through the roof during a storm. After four days he opens the door, tells me I stink and need to clean myself up as I was gonna get a visitor. Somehow he’d managed to find a new dealer, one who weren’t as picky about age. Told me it was time I showed him I could be a good son”  
His voice trailed off again and Jasmine’s heart broke for him. She pictured him as a child, small, helpless and terrified, knowing nothing but pain and suffering. Everything about him made perfect sense now.  
“How old were you?” she asked, keeping her voice steady.  
“Bout 14, maybe 15, still a skinny little runt, too scared to stand up to him. Bastard told me if I ran or fought back he’d hurt Merle. My brother might of been a dick but he was still the only other family I had and when he was around he tried to keep me safe. Problem was he was always in trouble, off on a bender or stuck in juvie. He signed up just before I turned 14, said it was for the best. Took me a long time to forgive him for abandoning me.”  
He took a mouthful of coffee, frowning at the now cold liquid.  
“Got cleaned up like my pa wanted and this new dealer arrived. Made it pretty clear what he wanted and he was even sicker than the first. I tried to fight him off, but he was strong. He’d got me pinned when suddenly he was gone. When I looked up Merle was there, beating the crap outta him. Damn near killed him. Turned out he’d got thrown outta the army and come home just in time. Once he was finished with the dealer he turned on Pa, beat him to a pulp, told me to grab my shit and we left. Never went back again, found out years later the old man died of an overdose. Spent the next 15 years following Merle around, getting wasted and into fights. The it all went to crap and I met up with Rick and the others”  
He glanced at the woman beside him, still clinging to his hands. Her eyes were shiny with tears but she held them back as she reached up and brushed the hair from his eyes.  
“You’ve gone through so much and come out so strong” she told him.  
“Your father was sick, mentally and physically. You were just a child trying to please a man who would never be happy. Now you have to accept there are people here who love and care for you. People who respect you and your opinion, they see straight through your act, they know you’re a good, brave, strong man, not this distant, angry redneck you try and hide behind”  
She gave him a small smile.  
“You think people the people of this town think nothing of you, just see you as the dumb, hick, hillbilly you always been told you are, well you couldn’t be more wrong. I know for a fact they respect you for your survival skills and your loyalty to your group. Most of the men would love to be able to hunt and track like you and as for the women…” she flashed him a grin.  
“Let’s just say you’d be spoilt for choice if you wanted company one night” she saw the look of disbelief he gave her.  
“Apparently angry redneck is very appealing. I can think of at least four women right now who’d come running if you snapped your fingers” she flashed him a glance  
“Couple of men as well, if that’s more your thing”  
He pulled away from her indignantly  
“I aint into men, like women well enough, just aint too experienced with them. Merle used to throw drunk skanks at me when we was out. Never ended well” he admitted, looking anywhere but at the woman beside him.  
He felt her hand close over his again, her touch comforting.  
“Maybe now you can let yourself relax a little, start to let others in. I don’t mean romantically necessarily, just start by talking to people outside your group. I’ve seen how you push everyone else away with your gruff attitude and surly behaviour, growling and cursing, hiding behind your temper. You need to accept there are decent people here, people you can trust. No one is going to hurt you again. If anyone tried you have friends who will do their best to stop it. Rick, Michonne, Carol, Glenn, even Carl. any of the others, they will lay down their lives for you, as they know you would for them”  
Her words began to sink in and he felt a weight lift from his chest, similar to when he and Beth torched the moonshine shack. It was a release from his past and he wondered if now he could finally move on.  
“You aint too bad for some uppity college bitch” he told her, hiding the smirk “Figure you was pretty good at what you did ‘fore the turn”  
Jasmine smiled, knowing that was as close as she would get to a compliment or thanks.  
“You’re not too bad yourself” she replied “for an angry redneck”  
Before he could move she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. Instinctively he stiffened, his first reaction to pull away but he forced himself to stay still.  
Jasmine didn’t know why she decided to hold him and fully expected him to pull away. She felt him tense, then to her surprise he relaxed. After a few awkward seconds she felt him move as he wrapped one arm cautiously around her waist. He made no attempt to move closer, just rested his arm lightly around her. The stubble on his chin scratched her cheek as he leaned forward.  
“Thanks” he muttered awkwardly “Guess you was right, felt good to talk”  
Jasmine broke the hug before he became uncomfortable with it, her hand brushing his cheek as she stepped away.  
“You’re welcome, maybe it will stop the dreams, sometimes getting these things out can help” She moved to the ladder.  
“Your watch is over soon so I’m going to get some sleep now and I’ll see you in the morning” With a final smile she descended the ladder, heading back to her home on the far side of town.  
A little while later a grumbling Ethan stumbled onto the platform, clearly not happy at having to take his turn in protecting the town.  
“Jus’ make sure you stay alert, aint no good if you go dozin’ off up here” Daryl growled, surprised to realize he didn’t feel his usual urge to punch the younger man in his pretty boy face.

It was the shouting that woke him, Coop’s loud bellow for Rick jolting him from the first peaceful sleep he’d had in weeks.  
In an instant he was outside, joining Rick and Michonne on the porch as Coop and Marcie raced up the steps.  
“She’s gone” The bearded man yelled, more panicked than Daryl had ever seen him before.  
“Those bastards with the W’s came back, they took the Doc” he exclaimed  
“They took Jasmine!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wolves have taken Jasmine, now it's up to Rick and the others to get her back before it's too late. How can they mount a rescue attempt and still leave Alexandria protected?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay updating this story, I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter but had no end of trouble getting it written down. It's shorter than usual and I'm still not happy with it but there's only so many times I can delete and rewrite it before I go crazy. I thought this would be the last chapter but decided to split it into two, hopefully the second half will be a whole lot easier to get down.   
> Thanks to everyone for all the comments and kudos on the previous chapters, I really do appreciate it. Please don't let this chapter put you off reading the rest.  
> Thanks for taking a look and enjoy.  
> xx

Chapter 6  
Ethan smiled at the woman as she gazed adoringly at him. He thought her name was Anna or Amy or something similar, he didn’t really care. She wasn’t the youngest or prettiest of the women of Alexandria but he didn’t mind that. They were usually the one’s he found the most grateful when a man like him paid attention to them, the one’s that were the most obliging. If he’d had a choice it would have been Maggie, up here on the watch platform with him, she was so much more his type, beautiful, fiesty and sexy as hell but sadly so much in love with Glenn and now expecting the man’s child. Even he drew the line at trying to steal a man’s pregnant wife away from him.   
He’d tried flirting with Michonne once, only once. She’d eyed him up and down, her expression unreadable until a small smile curled her lips and he thought he’d been in with a chance. Then she’d reached behind her and slowly pulled out that damn big sword of hers. Before he could blink the tip of it had been pressed against his most prized possession.  
“You talk to me again, Damn, you even look at me again, and you’re going to lose something close to you” Her voice was low, almost casual as she pressed the blade even closer, causing his eyes to tear up as he tried to back away. He was suddenly aware of Rick and that damn hillbilly whose name he’d never bothered to remember watching, amusement written all over their faces. He’d fled, burning with humiliation and never attempted to speak to anyone from that group again.  
Now as Anna/Amy/whatever moved closer, allowing him to slid his hand up her shirt, he tried to picture what it would be like if she were someone else. He thought of all the women in the town, torn between imagining it was pretty blonde Jessie or dark, plays-hard-to-get Jasmine writhing in his arms. He had just decided on Jessie when the sharp blade of a knife was pressed into his throat.  
“Not a sound, unless you want to bleed all over the nice lady here” The rough voice drawled in his ear as the knife was pushed closer. The woman was dragged from his grip, a grimy hand clamped over her mouth, an arm wrapped around her stomach. As he watched Ethan saw two more men climb over the wall, both armed with machetes and knives.  
“Got to say you are probably the worse look out ever” the man’s voice was amused “So easily distracted by a piece of tail we could have got a whole army over the wall and you wouldn’t have noticed”  
“Now we’re all going to climb down from the platform and you’re going to take us to whoever your Medic is”   
Ethan was shoved towards the ladder, blade still against his throat as he stumbled forward. One of the invaders went first, the woman forced to go next.  
“You come quiet unless you want us to hurt him” With a frightened nod she climbed down. Ethan followed and the two of them were dragged between two houses, out of sight of the street and any passersby.  
“where’s your Doctor, we need them?” the man demanded.  
“We’re not taking you anywhere” The woman’s voice shook as she stared defiantly at the group of men surrounding them.  
Ethan glared at her, willing her to keep quiet.  
“Let’s not be too hasty here” he stammered “If we take you where you want you swear you won’t kill us?” He ignored the disgusted look from Anna as he faced the man who had held the knife on him.  
“Looks like the woman’s got bigger balls than this guy” another quipped, earning a laugh from the group.  
“You’re pathetic!” Anna spat as she suddenly lunged forward, twisting herself free from her captures grip and attempting to run to the street. She opened her mouth to scream a warning but a tackle to her legs bought her down. At once her head was forced back and the blade of a knife dragged across her exposed throat. Ethan watched wide eyed as she slumped forward, making a strange, gasping, gurgling sound as she bleed out on the pavement.  
“Now that’s a damn shame, I liked her” The man turned to a terrified Ethan.  
“Now, about this medic of yours”   
Jasmine was curled up in bed, the paperback drooping in her hand as she felt sleep slide over her. Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Daryl and she hoped his admissions had helped him find some kind of peace with his past. Sleep was seconds away when she heard the urgent pounding on her door.   
“Damn it” she muttered, cursing the fact that she was the only one in the town with any medical knowledge so therefore always on call.  
She scrambled from the bed, pulling on jeans and buttoning a top over her sleep shirt as she hurried downstairs. Still barefoot she threw open the door to see a visibly shaken Ethan framed in the doorway.  
“Ethan!, What’s wrong?” she asked, concern overtaking her dislike of the man.  
“Jasmine, I’m sorry” he choked “I had no choice. They killed her”  
“Sorry for what, who killed……?” before she could finish Jasmine found herself being shoved back into her house and five rough looking men surrounding her and Ethan.  
“Get your stuff together please Doctor, you’re coming with us” One of the men stepped forward, his tone civil as he made his request.  
“I’m not going anywhere” Jasmine straightened her back, trying not to show her fear. The W’s carved on the men’s foreheads clearly identified them as the group that had attacked them previously.   
“What do you want from us?” she asked  
“Eventually we want you people gone from here but for now we just want you to come with us” The man waved his machete towards her.  
“I’m not asking again”  
She shook her head   
“Clearly you need me for something, you won’t kill me” she crossed her arms over her chest,  
“I’m going nowhere” she announced defiantly.  
The man gave her a chilling smile.  
“You’re right, I can’t kill you, but I don’t need you conscious just yet” His fist lashed out and Ethan cringed when the impact with her jaw hurled Jasmine back. She landed half on the couch, half on the floor, her eyes closed, blood oozing from the cut to her bottom lip, a bruise already forming on her jaw.  
“Do any of the women in this town co-operate?” the man turned to Ethan with a cold smirk.  
“What are we going to do about you I wonder” he commented as he moved closer.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Marcie, trying to slip back into the house after a night with Eugene, that found the bound and gagged Ethan and raised the alarm. At once a town meeting was announced to plan the next move.  
“Aint no decision to make, we go get her back” Daryl was already checking his weapons, preparing to leave immediately.  
“That goes without saying” Rick assured him “We just have to be careful. The fact they left Ethan alive so he could tell us who took her means it’s probably a trap. We need to have a plan. We can’t just go charging out there, leaving the town undefended”  
“I’ll go alone then. Track ‘em, go in and get her, bring her home” Daryl headed for the door but Michonne’s hand on his arm stopped him.  
“You can’t go by yourself, they’ll be expecting us to go after her, they’ll be watching. You’ll end up getting yourself killed, how will that help anyone?”  
He was about to protest when Tobin hurried in, his face twisted in grief as he glared at Ethan  
“We’ve just found Anna’s body. He was telling the truth, she’s been murdered” he exclaimed.

Rick squatted beside Anna’s now covered body, his eyes scanning the area, Finally he rose, making his way to stand in front of Ethan.  
“You want to explain exactly what happened here last night, how they got over the wall and killed Anna, then took Jasmine without you seeing a damn thing?” The Constables calm voice fooled no one, his simmering anger just barely under control.  
“Lousy son of a bitch!” Daryl glanced at the body on the ground before lunging towards Ethan, fists clenched.  
“Asshole was too busy makin’ out with her to be payin’ attention. That’s how they got in”  
Rick put a hand out to stop Daryl laying into the now cowering man.  
“That true?” he asked softly.  
Ethan backed away, eyes darting nervously from person to person in the suddenly hostile crowd.  
“She came on to me, it wasn’t my fault” he stammered “She was all over me and then they were suddenly on the platform. They held a knife to my throat” he stammered  
“So how is it she’s the one that’s dead?” Tobin asked.  
“They wanted us to take them to our medic. She tried to run and they killed her. It was her own fault” Ethan regretted the words the second they left his mouth. He saw Rick step to the side, saw Daryl raise his fist and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. It didn’t come. When he risked a peek he saw that Coop had caught hold of the hunter and pulled him back.  
“Thank y….” he started, no time to finish before the huge, bearded man’s fist smashed into his face.  
“You sold her out to save yourself, you worthless piece of shit” Coop punched him again, this time in the gut.  
“Knew we should have left you on the road, instead of risking ourselves to save you” he snarled as he hurled Ethan to his feet.  
“She get’s hurt or we don’t get her back you better be ready to run ‘cos there won’t be any place you can hide where I won’t find you” he promised as he shoved him to the ground again.  
Ethan clutched his bleeding face,  
“You broke my nose” he whimpered, as Rick and the others turned away, leaving him huddled on the floor.  
Michonne stopped and faced him.  
“You should get that looked at” she commented “Oh wait, you can’t, you let our only Doctor get taken, didn’t you?”   
With that she spun on her heel and strode off.  
Jasmine cautiously opened her eyes, hoping the room wasn’t spinning as much as it felt in her pounding head. She lay still for a moment, breathing deeply until the dizziness passed. Her jaw ached and when she ran her her tongue over her parched lips she felt the crustiness of dried blood.  
“Finally, you decided to join us again” the voice was close and Jasmine carefully turned her head to see the man who had hit her standing nearby.   
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up” He moved closer and knelt at her side, leaning forward and tucking one hand under her head, the other moving to grip her wrist.  
“Here, let me help you sit” She allowed him to help her, then accepted the cup of tepid water he held out.  
“I’m truly sorry for hitting you so hard but it was the only way to get you to co-operate” he apologised as she tried to take in her surroundings.  
She was sitting on a cold concrete floor in what looked to be a large warehouse of some kind. Several windows were broken and water dripped from the floor above, running down the walls and forming large puddles on the floor. She could see at least 15 other people milling around, some cleaning knives and other weapons, some just chatting quietly. Several were openly staring at her, the looks ranging from curiosity to downright hostility. One man was eying her in a way that made her feel very uneasy and she instinctively bought her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs against her, trying to make herself as small as possible.  
She was aware the man was speaking again, still in the same friendly, well spoken manner but she still couldn’t help the shiver of terror at her situation.  
The man gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.  
“You don’t need to be afraid” he told her “We need your help. You co-operate and everything will be fine, no one will hurt you” It was the unspoken words that sent the shiver down her spine, the unmade threat of what would happen if she didn’t do what they wanted.  
“What do you want from me?” Jasmine was pleased to hear she’d managed to hide the fear in her voice but still couldn’t hold back the flinch as the man rose and reached down, gripping her arms and pulling her to her feet.  
“I’m Daniel, by the way” he told her as if the situation were no more than two strangers meeting in a bar “What’s your name?”  
“Jasmine” she saw no point in lying as he began to guide her towards a door in the corner.  
“Pretty name” he commented, his grip firm but gentle as he escorted her down a darkened corridor, finally stopping in front of a closed door. Several people were gathered outside, hopeful expressions on their faces when they saw her.  
“Our leader, Joshua, is a wonderful man. He bought us all together and showed us the way forward” Daniel touched the W carved onto his forehead almost reverently.   
“It was him who told us about the slaughter of the wild wolves when the first settlers came to these lands and told us it was time to right that wrong. He showed us it is our duty to rid the planet from the scourge that is the human race, that we are the chosen few to restore things to the natural balance” Daniel spoke with the fervour of a true zealot and she realized just how much trouble she was in.  
“It was Joshua who explained to us that you people should not be in Alexandria and that it was our job to remove you” Daniel gave her a sideways glance.  
“Now he is hurt and we find that we do need you after all. At least until you make him well again”  
Jasmine shook her head,   
“Give me one good reason why I should help him, especially if you plan to kill me afterwards anyway” She asked as she yanked her arm free from his grip.  
Daniel stared at her in disbelief.  
“You’re a Doctor, it’s your duty to help those who need it, you took an oath” His face darkened  
“When you save him we will allow you to become part of our group. If you refuse to help him you will live long enough to watch those you care about die. We will take that town and each and every person will die in front of you. Your co-operation will make things so much easier for them”  
A woman opened the door to the leaders room and Daniel shoved her through. The room was lit by several candles and Jasmine could see the still figure on the bed. Even in the dim light she could see he was in a bad way. His chest rose and fell in short, gasping breaths, his breathing laboured. A film of sweat coated his skin and as she moved closer she saw the grey sheen to his flesh, the only color the blood from a gaping wound to his temple and the various cuts and bruises scattered over his face.  
“What happened?” she asked, reaching for the medical supplies laid out on a small table at the bedside.  
“We were after a woman and her children, planning to remove them from this earth. They went into a building and we followed them to the second floor. Joshua was about to free her and her offspring from their miserable existence when he was attacked. It seems that a Father’s bond to his children is strong enough that he is prepared die for them. He and Joshua fell through a window, landing on the street below, the father died but Joshua survived” Daniel gave her a chilling smile.   
“The mother and children didn’t last much longer” He smile widened at her look of horror  
“Don’t worry, they are at peace now, all together forevermore” The smile faded “and now you have to save Joshua”  
Reluctantly Jasmine moved to the injured man’s side and folded the bedcovers back. He was bare chested and she could see the dark bruises that littered his torso. His stomach was swollen and distended, a sure sign of internal bleeding. His harsh breathing told her that one or both of his lungs were probably punctured. Checking the pulse at his wrist she found it to be almost non-existent. His eyes were unresponsive to light and there was severe swelling around the gash on his temple. Further examination revealed several more broken bones and a second area of swelling to the back of his skull. Jasmine’s heart sank as she realised it was a hopeless situation.  
“I’m sorry” she started “He’s too badly hurt, he’s unresponsive to any external stimulus, has two severe head injuries as well as multiple broken bones, at least one punctured lung and probable internal damage. There’s nothing I can do, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before he…..”  
The blow caught her by surprise, knocking her back against the table, scattering the medical tools laid out there.  
“You’re a doctor” Daniel snarled “You will save him”  
“With those type of injuries it would have been hard to save him in the old days, now it’s all but impossible” Jasmine tried to explain, flinching back as Daniel raised his hand again.  
“I’m not even a real medic” she blurted out “I was a psychologist, I only have limited medical training and experience” The change of expression on Daniel’s face told her she’d made a fatal mistake with that admission.  
“Then what use are you to us?” he asked coldly, moving closer and raising his hand.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rescue mission is planned and the Wolves attack Alexandria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all let me say I'm so sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, life, the Universe and everything else has got in the way recently! Despite me saying this will be the last chapter it kind of got away with me so there will be one more, which is almost finished. Writing that will take priority over everything else, who needs clean, ironed clothes and frozen pizza is a perfectly acceptable meal!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, please leave a comment to let me know if you think it was worth the wait (or not)
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has left kudos or comments already, I really do appreciate you taking the time to do so.
> 
> A final word, please spare a minute or two to read the note at the end of this work for some exciting news.
> 
> Thanks for reading.

Chapter 7

The two Wolves watched, hidden in the thick branches of a tall tree overlooking Alexandria’s gates, as several cars left the town each one laden with armed men. They watched as a man in a leather vest with wings on the back scanned the ground intently finally finding what he was looking for.

“They went this way” he declared before mounting a motorcycle and leading the convoy away from the now defenceless town.

The Wolves continued to watch as a short haired woman glanced nervously around before securing the gate, clutching nervously at the large rifle in her hands. They exchanged grins as she appeared to struggle with the large weapon, holding it clumsily, frowning at a second woman who appeared next to her.

“I wish I’d taken some lessons in how to use this thing” she commented with a rueful laugh “I think I’m more likely to shoot myself in the foot than hit anyone else with it”

The other woman fiddled with her blonde hair, tucking a piece of it behind her ear before letting out a small giggle.

“I know what you mean, Rick wanted me to carry one but I could barely lift it and I didn’t want it in the house, not with Sam there. You know what these kids are like?”

The women wandered away, still laughing as the Wolves waited. Once they were sure the women were out of earshot one of them pulled out a walkie talkie, one of the few pieces of technology they used.

“Daniel, you were right, they’ve sent all the best fighters out to find their doctor. Looks like it’s just women and kids left now. The town’s defenceless”

“Wait there, the others will be with you soon then go in and kill everyone you find, leave no survivors. The welcome committee is ready and waiting here, we’ll deal with their pathetic attempt at a rescue mission” Daniel’s voice was tense.

“Joshua’s dead, the medic turned out to be a waste of time. I’m arranging her execution now, then I’ll be with you, hopefully in time to see our final victory over Alexandria” Without waiting for a reply Daniel finished the call, leaving the two men staring at each other in shock over the news of their leaders death.

Out of sight, in one of the houses close to the fence Carol swung the rifle expertly over her shoulder, watching as Jessie picked up the handgun she’d left on the table, checking it was loaded.

“You don’t think we overdid the helpless woman bit do you?” The younger woman asked her.

Carol laughed.

“You mean the dumb blonde, playing with her hair and giggling like an idiot, or the scared old woman barely able to hold her weapon? One thing I’ve found is that people are easily fooled by appearances. They’ll believe what they saw because it’s what they expect”

Jessie gave her a rueful smile.

“Well if they believed I’m scared they’d be right” she admitted “I’m terrified. What if something goes wrong?”

“You just have to trust Rick, he knows what he’s doing” Carol reassured the younger woman as she began to check and load the the various weapons laid out in front of her.

The convoy of cars stopped on the road a few miles from Alexandria. Daryl climbed from the bike and met Rick at the lead car, the two of them walking back to the others.

“Everyone sure they know what they’re doing?” the leader questioned, reassured by the nods and confident replies from the heavily armed men in the vehicles.

“Okay, let’s do this then” Rick reached into his car and pulled out his pack and weapons. He bit back the smile as he saw Daryl reluctantly handing the motorcycle key to Aaron.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” The hunter asked, apparently unable to let go of the key fob.

“Can leave it hidden in the trees, maybe that’s best” he tried to pull away but Aaron’s grip was firm.

“I promise I’ll take good care and get it back to you without another scratch” the smaller man plucked the key from Daryl’s grip, giving him a friendly push.

“Just go get Jasmine back”

Daryl snatched up his bag and crossbow and, with a final glance at his beloved bike, set off to catch up with Rick, Coop and Michonne as they headed into the trees and back toward Alexandria to pick up the trail that would take them to Jasmine and her abductors.

Daryl’s head snapped round as he heard the sound of his bike’s engine start up.

“Dumbass’s givin’ it too much gas” he muttered, an annoyed growl escaping from him as the engine stuttered and stalled. His steps faltered and Michonne caught his arm.

“Forget the damn bike” she scolded “we got more important things to worry about”

With a final look over his shoulder back towards the road, he gave Michonne his most intimidating glare, annoyed when she just grinned at him and hurried to catch up with Rick. With a sigh he picked up his pace, pushing his way to the front of the little group and beginning the serious business of tracking.

Maggie paced anxiously as she waited, knowing the plan they had come up with was risky, so many things could go wrong. She hoped that the only Wolves watching them were the two that thought they were concealed in the tree by the gates. Daryl had spotted them almost immediately, his keen eye missing nothing when it came to the surrounding forest.

The sun was just slipping below the horizon when she heard the discrete signal, the sound of soft tapping on metal. At once she pulled open the grate covering the sewer tunnels to see Aaron’s grim face.

“It’s not got any better down here” he muttered as he scrambled out, closely followed by Glenn and the rest of the men that had left in the cars. The vehicles had been left behind, discreetly parked in an old warehouse, out of sight as the men had hurried back to Alexandria, using the network of abandoned tunnels Aaron had discovered on the luxury developments blueprints. 

Once safely concealed in the closest house Glenn approached Maggie, intent on embracing her. With a grimace she backed away from him.

“You’re not coming near me until you’ve had at least three showers” she stated wrinkling her nose at the foul smell emanating from her husband.

“I’ve been in those sewers, I know exactly what you’ve all just waded through” she told him as she retreated to the far side of the room, ignoring the amused looks from the men clustered in the small room, enjoying the light relief as they waited for the inevitable attack.

Jasmine had done her best, trying to save the severely injured Joshua but it had been no good. She’d watched helplessly as his body began to convulse, thrashing on the bed before finally slumping back, his breathing slowing.

“It’s the head injury, too much pressure on his brain is causing seizures and I’ve no way to relieve it” she’d tried to explain to Daniel as he stared at her impassively.

“It’s very simple” the man’s voice had been emotionless as he reached for his unconscious leader’s unresponsive hand, grasping it tightly.

“If he dies you die”

Joshua had lasted a couple more hours before one final, violent seizure had been too much for his damaged body and he had slipped away. At once Daniel had hurled Jasmine from the room, dragging her back to the large warehouse area she’d first woken in.

“Joshua is dead” he’d announced “This woman failed to save him and she will pay with her own life”

As the assembled people had began to wail in despair, Daniel had leaned closer, his breath ghosting her ear.

“Joshua didn’t like men to hit women, it was one of his rules” He had shoved her into the center of the large open area, nodding to someone behind her.

“However, like most rules, there are ways around them”

Now, several hours later, she was huddled on the floor in a small, cold room. She’d found out first hand that women could be just as violent and cruel as the worst man. At Daniel’s command several of the female members of the Wolves had surrounded her, circling like a pack of the animals they took their name from. She’d tried to fight back as they closed in but there were too many and it wasn’t long before she was semiconscious and hurting. Two men dragged her limp body to the small room and hurled her inside. Daniel had spoken to them softly, then watched as they turned back to her, grins on their faces as they reached out. She’d clawed and fought desperately as one had seized the front of her shirt, ripping it open and yanking it from her shoulders, the second reaching for her waistband. She squirmed and struggled and it took both of them but finally they managed to remove her jeans, leaving her in just the long tee shirt she slept in, the one she’d thrown her clothes over before answering Ethan’s knock at her door. 

She scooted backwards away from them, her still barefeet scrabbling against the floor, until her back hit the wall and she could go no further.

One of the men dropped next to her, laughing as his hand landed on her thigh and she slapped it away.

“Oh Darlin’ I really wish we had the time” he drawled as he grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands in front of her.

“But we gotta go get ready for your friends and you gotta get ready to die” Her hands were bound tightly, the rough rope biting into her flesh and then she was left alone, cold, in pain and afraid.

Rick clamped his hand over the man’s mouth, forcing his head back and cutting his throat at the exact same time the bolt pierced his companions throat. Both men fell without making a sound as nearby Michonne and Coop dealt with two others, equally as silently. The foursome had made their way through the woods, following the obvious tracks left by the Wolves as they returned to their base with Jasmine, ruthlessly taking out any living person they came across.

Between them they had efficiently dealt with over a dozen men, all who had thought they were the ones in control of the situation, all who were brutally proved wrong. Now they were seeking a way into the rundown warehouse in front of them. The fences surrounding it were high and the only gate they had found heavily guarded.

“There’s gotta be a way we can distract those bastards” Coop growled, anxious to get inside and find Jasmine.

“We can split up, two of us make a ruckus, force them to check it out” Daryl muttered, but Rick was shaking his head before he’d even finished.

“No, we need to stick together, we don’t know how many more there are inside” He thought hard, trying to come up with a solution.

“Look!” Michonne hissed as the four men guarding the gate suddenly left their posts, the sound of their laughter drifting through the darkening evening as they hurried away.

“Come on!” Rick was on his feet, leading the others as they dashed across the road. Quickly they scrambled over the gate and ran across the roadway, seeking the shelter of the nearest building. Slipping through the first door they found unlocked the group found themselves in a large reception area, the computer and telephone still sitting on the dusty desk, an open file alongside them, as if waiting for a secretary to return and commence working. Slowly they edged through the once plush office, cautiously opening a door at the other end. A long corridor stretched out in front of them, several doors leading from it. They checked each one and found all of the rooms beyond empty.

“It’s too damn quiet, where is everyone?” Coop mumbled, more to himself than expecting an answer. They moved further inside the warehouse complex checking every room they passed and finding no sign on life in any. In one they found the well dressed body of a man laid out on a bed, hands folded across his chest, his corpse surrounded by wildflowers and burning candles.

“It’s a damn shrine” Daryl commented as they backed out and continued the search for their missing friend. 

Eventually they heard voices, shouting and jeering and followed the sound to a parking lot at the back of the warehouse complex. The large lot was lit by the headlights of several vehicles parked in a semi-circle around one edge. In the centre of the open space several people were gathered in a loose circle surrounding something on the ground. At either side of the lot, parked facing away from each other, were two large pick ups. As they watched curiously, men climbed into the driver’s seat of each truck and began to back them up. An audible ripple of excitement ran through the mob as the trucks stopped close to the edge of the expectant crowd.

“The Hell they doing?” Coop asked as thick ropes were attached to the rear bumper of each truck, the other end being passed from person to person until it reached the center of the circle.

“I don’t know, but something tells me it’s not good” 

Michonne learned further out, trying to see through the mass of bodies, to see what they were watching in the centre of the circle. As she stretched out the crowd moved slightly and she caught a brief glimpse of a still figure on the ground.

“Whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it quick” she exclaimed “Jasmine’s there and she’s not moving”

The lone Wolf climbed the wall and dropped carefully into Alexandria. He stayed in the shadows, moving cautiously through the silent, seemingly empty town until he reached the gate. Using the cover of darkness he dashed across the road and unlatched the heavy barrier, using all his strength to slide it open as quickly as possible. At once the rest of the Wolves poured in, weapons in hand as they glanced around at the deserted streets.

“Guess they must all be tucked up in their cosy little houses” one of them laughed, “This is gonna be easier than we thought”

The silence made them cocky and their arrogance was their undoing. As they moved in a group toward the closest buildings they were an easy target for the armed men that poured unexpectedly onto the streets. The night air was filled with the roar of gunfire and the screams of the dying as the residents of Alexandria opened fire. Some of the intruders tried to fight back but machetes and bats were no match for semi automatic rifles. Some tried to run but unseen hands had closed the gates behind them and they had nowhere to go. Less than 10 minutes after they had breached the small community the Wolves were dead.

Maggie reached out and took Glenn’s hand as they surveyed the bodies littering the street. She gave it a reassuring squeeze as she felt the tremor that ran through his body.

“They didn’t give us a choice” she said softly, knowing it was the first time he’d ever had to take a living human life, knowing he would find it hard to accept.

“I know” Glenn squeezed her hand back “It was them or us, and I’ll do whatever I have to, to keep you safe” He let go of her and together they joined the others in the long job of clearing the bodies.

It all happened quicker than anyone could imagine, Maggie had seized hold of a bloodied jacket, preparing to pull the body towards the trailer they were using to dispose of the corpses when the seemingly dead Wolf rolled over. With a snarl he swung the machete he’d been concealing under his body towards the woman above him. Glenn saw the movement but was too far away to do anything other than scream his wife’s name. 

As the machete flashed out Maggie felt a heavy weight crash into her side, knocking her off her feet. As she hit the ground she heard an agonised cry followed by the retort of several weapons. The last remaining Wolf’s body was riddled with bullets, the now bloody machete slipping from his grasp as he breathed his last.

Glenn was at her side in an instant, helping his pregnant wife to her feet, while checking her for injury. 

“Who was it?” Maggie shoved his hands away, eyes wide and concerned

“Who knocked me out the way? Are they okay?” She tried to push past Glenn but he caught her in his arms, stilling her.

“You don’t need to see it” he said softly. “It was Ethan, he saved you, but the machete caught him in the throat, he didn’t make it”

Maggie shook her head in disbelief,

“Ethan?” She questioned “Why would he risk himself for me?” She twisted free from her husband’s arms, making her way to Ethan’s still body.

He was lying on his side, a pool of blood spreading under his head, seeping into the dusty road surface beneath him. Maggie’s stomach turned as she saw the deep gash in his exposed neck, throat ripped open from one side to the other by the sharp blade. His eyes were still open, frozen in an expression of surprise and she noticed the bruises around his nose and cheek from Coops punch, the swelling marring his once handsome face. 

“You came through and you saved me and my baby, Thank you” she whispered as she knelt and gently closed his eyes before rising, allowing Aaron to cover the body with a thick blanket.

“We’ll give him a decent burial, make sure people know he saved you, that he wasn’t all bad in the end” He squeezed Maggie’s arm reassuringly, before giving her a gentle shove in Glenn’s direction.

“Now go with Glenn and rest. You know you have to take it easy!” With a nod Maggie allowed herself to be lead away, leaving the job of clearing the corpses to the others.

The hatred on the faces of the people surrounding her and the noise of their jeers were terrifying. Jasmine tried to curl into a ball, to protect herself from the kicks aimed in her direction as she lay where she’d been thrown. Her ribs hurt and the exposed flesh on her arms and legs was raw and bloody from being dragged across the unforgiving asphalt of the parking lot.

Daniel had come for her, hurling her to her feet, forcing her from the room she’d been left in for what felt like hours. As he pulled her along he began to talk, telling her how he believed one of the best things since the world ended was the loss of all modern technology.

“People actually have to talk to each other now” he rambled “no more texting or emails, just good, old fashioned conversations. So much more civilised” He waited patiently when she stumbled on weak legs, letting her regain her balance before continuing.

“The loss of the internet, TV and all other media has meant we’ve had to return to books for entertainment. It’s amazing how much I’ve discovered, how much I’ve learnt just from picking up a casually abandoned book in a house we’ve raided” He gave her a cold smile

“One of my favourites was one on medieval history, such an interesting and brutal time period. It was a time when people seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on each other, and they were so inventive as well, racks, thumb screws, Iron Maidens, things more horrific than a nice person like you can even imagine.” 

He pushed her through a door and she stumbled outside, the cool night air making her shiver as it hit the bare skin of her exposed limbs. The darkness was suddenly lit by the headlights of several vehicles, blinding her and making lift her bound hands over her face. As her eyes adjusted she saw the people waiting, hostile gazes aimed towards her.

Daniel leaned closer, his breath ghosting against her ear.

“Unfortunately for you I am not a nice person” He shoved her hard, pushing her towards the center of the lot and the waiting crowd.

“Also I don’t need an imagination, not when I have my books” 

He gave her another violent push and this time she fell, barely getting her hands in front of her in time to stop her face hitting the hard ground. Before she could get up hands grabbed at her, gripping her shirt and hair, roughly dragging her across the uneven surface. She was shoved onto her back and when she tried to rise two woman knocked her back.

“Stay down” the older of the two snarled as she put her booted foot against Jasmine’s throat, the light pressure on her windpipe more than enough to keep her in place. She was vaguely aware of the sound of a vehicle, maybe more than one, and suddenly the hostile environment around her changed, the expressions on the faces of those surrounding her becoming less aggressive, more excited.

Hands gripped her legs and, despite her desperate struggles, ropes were wrapped tightly around her ankles, binding them together painfully and the excitement around her grew. The woman removed her foot from Jasmine’s throat as Daniel knelt at her side, the smile on his face genuine for the first time since she’d met him.

“If we were doing this the traditional way we’d be using horses” he informed her as the end of a rope was passed to him and he deftly looped it around her bound wrists, forcing her arms above her head as she lay on the cold asphalt.

“But we’ll have to make do with what we have” he moved to her feet and looped a second rope around her the one binding her ankles, fastening it securely.

“This is actually the last stage of the procedure but we’re a little pushed for time tonight. We have to finish off your friends when they come for you, then return to Alexandria and clear it of all other survivors” He smiled again.

“You’re actually getting away with it lightly, all things considered”

Jasmine swallowed hard, her mouth parched as she stared up at him.

“They won’t come for me. They know I’m not worth the risk and they won’t leave the town undefended” she tried to sound defiant but even to her ears knew she sounded scared and weak.

“They’re already on their way. My people watched them leave that town all but undefended a while ago. We left an obvious trail when we returned with you, traps are set and we’re ready and waiting. We’re expecting them any time soon, which is why we need to get on now” He rose swiftly, glancing down at her helpless figure, smiling as she squirmed and twisted, trying to escape.

“When I give the word the trucks these ropes are attached to will slowly start to pull away. Soon your body will be stretched, pulled until your joints pop from their sockets and your flesh tears. This was a punishment reserved for those who committed treason or tried to murder Kings. It only seems fitting that you die this way as you allowed Joshua to die. I’m only sorry we don’t have the time to do the rest of it, I would have enjoyed watching you twitch with a rope around that pretty little neck, choking and gasping until you almost died before we cut you down. The next part was actually aimed more at men, involving the removal of certain body parts, but I’m sure we could have come up with something equally as unpleasant for you, there are other organs that can be removed, leaving the victim alive for a time” 

Daniel smiled again and raised his arms, at once the gathered crowd fell silent, expectant faces waiting for his next command.

“It’s showtime” he said simply as he dropped his arms to his sides.

“Let the punishment begin” 

At once the pickup engines revved as the two drivers began to edge slowly forward, gathering the slack in the ropes. Jasmine felt the pull on her limbs as her body was pulled in two directions, her skin stretching over her bones and she began to feel the pressure on her joints .

“Please!” her desperate eyes met Daniel’s cold, unforgiving gaze as she pleaded.

“Please stop!”   
Before he could reply all Hell broke lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I have been writing on Fanfiction.net for a while now, under the user name mistyeye and have talked to many wonderful fellow writers, one of whom, lizziekat15, I have become good friends with. We have decided to work together on an original novel length work. It's a thriller set in Great Britain and Europe during World War 2, with not a single walker in sight!! We've been researching and planning it for the last few weeks and are hoping to start getting something final down soon, the plan being to publish it as an ebook to start, then look into self publishing if it seems to do well (not sure if I mentioned that bit to Lizziekat15!) We have set up a facebook page with more detail and would love to see your thoughts and comments. Please like us on www.facebook.com/MistyKatProductions. We also have a Twitter page, find us at MistyKatProductions @etater61and follow us. I am in the UK and LizzieKat is in the USA we have found the time differences a problem when trying to communicate and have set up a gofundme page to try and raise the cash so we can actually meet up and visit some of the locations we plan to use. Please take a look and maybe share it with others.  
> This is a very exciting time for us, trying to make a dream come true of actually being published authors and we would love to see your views and support.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read this, who knows in a few years maybe we'll be meeting some of you on our international book tours - sigh, I can dream!


	8. chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasmine's rescue doesn't go to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last the final chapter. Thank you for waiting so patiently, I hope you enjoy it.  
> Thank you to everyone who has left kudos or commented on this work, it's the only way we writers know how we're doing so it's really appreciated.  
> Read and enjoy and I'd love to know what you thought, even if you hated it.

Chapter 8

Two gunshots rang out and both truck drivers slumped forward, the engine on one stalling as the driver’s foot slipped from the pedals. The other continued to creep slowly forward, the dead driver’s foot wedged against the accelerator. 

People screamed and scattered as a hail of bullets raked through the crowd, unseen fingers on triggers relentless in their assault as the Wolves tried frantically to escape. Many died where they stood, several were injured and tried to crawl away as they were trampled by others in their own desperate attempt to get to safety.

With a frustrated snarl Daniel dived for cover behind a burnt out wreck of a car. His angry eyes searched for any sign of their attackers, narrowing when he saw two men using the covering gunfire to dash across the parking lot towards the bound woman. A well built, bearded man lunged towards the driver’s door of the still moving truck as a man with a gun in his hand and a crossbow on his back raced to the woman’s side, pulling a lethal looking knife from a sheath at his belt as he ran.

Coop wrenched open the door, grabbing the body of the man slumped over the steering wheel, hurling it from the cab. He yanked the keys from the ignition and gave a sigh of relief as the vehicle ground to a halt. Spinning round he saw Daryl had reached Jasmine’s side. Before he could head towards them a man with a gunshot wound in his thigh lurched round the hood of the truck, cursing as he threw himself at the bigger man. It didn’t take much for Coop to put him down, he was weak and injured and Coop was pissed off and feeling the need for some vengeance. As he let the man’s limp body fall to the ground he saw a brief flash of movement from the corner of his eye. 

The man who had given the order for the trucks to move was rising from his hiding place behind the gutted remains of a small car. Even from across the parking lot Coop could see the feral look of hatred in his eyes as he glared at Jasmine. Coop raised his gun as he saw the man lift his arm, the gun he was holding aimed at the woman he considered his kid sister. As his finger tightened on the trigger of his own weapon he saw the muzzle flash and knew he’d been too slow.

Daryl dropped to his knees at Jasmine’s side, his knife already sawing at the ropes binding her wrists, knowing the truck was still moving and he had to move fast. He blanked out the noise of the screams and sounds of the covering fire Rick and Michonne were laying down, watching the woman in front of him. Her eyes were screwed shut and she was whimpering in pain as her body was pulled, stretched far more than was natural. He was almost through the thick rope when it suddenly went slack, a quick glance revealing Coop had successfully stopped the vehicle. He saw him fighting off a single attacker but knew the huge man was more than capable of dealing with it. 

As he untangled the severed ropes from her wrists Jasmine’s eyes flew open, panic and pain turning to relief when she saw him.

“You came!” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck, clinging to him desperately as her body shook. Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close to his chest, holding her tight as she trembled and sobbed against him.

“I gotcha, gonna be okay now” he murmured as his fingers tangled in her hair and she buried her face into his neck.

“They aint gonna hurt you again” he told her as she began to relax, her sobs subsiding as she loosened her tight grip on him and pulled back slightly so she could look into his face. She bought her hand to his cheek, cupping it softly as she gazed at him, a small smile on her lips.

He saw her mouth open to speak but no words came out, just a small, shocked gasp. Her eyes widened briefly, then clouded over as she slumped forward, collapsing against him, her body suddenly limp in his arms. He felt a warm wetness on his stomach and glanced down in confusion. The front of Jasmine’s shirt was soaked in blood and at first he thought it was seeping onto his own clothes, but then he became aware of a spreading numbness throughout his body. He heard distant voices calling his name and felt Jasmine being pulled from his arms. He tried to stop her being taken but other hands were pulling at him, laying him down on the asphalt ground and he felt a firm pressure against his side. He managed to turn his head and saw Coop, kneeling with Jasmine’s head cradled in his lap, his body shaking with sobs as Michonne tried desperately to stop the flow of blood from the Doctor’s body, as it pooled beneath her from wounds in both her back and chest.

Pain hit him all at once and his vision began to dim.

“Stay with me!!” Rick’s voice was loud, more an order than a request and he fought to obey but the approaching darkness was too appealing and he let it take him….

 

3 months later….

Daryl strode down the street, crossbow in its familiar place on his back, returning the friendly greeting from a woman and her two children as they him passed on the pavement. He was still finding it hard to accept that he was part of this town, that people finally appreciated him for who he was. It had been difficult for him to open up and let strangers in but he felt he owed it to Jasmine to at least try. Rick, Carol and Aaron had been there for him, guiding him gently as he struggled to fit in and deal with the expected social niceties. Sometimes he still felt the need to be outside the walls alone but now he made sure he cleaned up before coming back through the gate and any game was gutted and prepared out of sight in the kitchen not on the front porch. He controlled his temper most of the time and actually made an effort to speak to people instead of grunting or snarling at them. Slowly their attitudes towards him changed and he began to feel like a valued member of the community.

His mind drifted back to that fateful day 3 months previously and he couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him everytime he thought of Jasmine’s motionless body slumped in his arms, his last memory before passing out of seeing Michonne trying desperately to keep her alive. He only had vague images of the following two days, two days of pain and confusion and disjointed voices pleading with him to come back to them.

He remembered waking in a strange place, Carol at his bedside, her worried, tearstained face breaking into a relieved grin when she saw he was awake.

“At last” she laughed, choking back a sob as she pulled him into a gentle hug he didn’t have the strength to get out of. 

“We thought we’d lost you”

She’d gone on to explain that Jasmine had been shot in the back by one of the Wolves, the only one of them who owned a gun. Coop had seen and killed him, just not in time to prevent the shot. The bullet had ploughed straight through the slender woman, striking Daryl and lodging deep in his side. At first the group had thought they had lost both of them and Rick had taken it badly, taking his uncontrollable rage out on the nearest surviving Wolf. In a desperate attempt to save himself the Wolf had told them of another community, one with a doctor about 70 miles from the Wolves base. It was the next place they’d had planned to attack once they had finished with Alexandria, it’s distance the only reason they had taken Jasmine in the first place, believing her to be a real doctor and wanting the closest one for their dying leader.

The injured Daryl and Jasmine had been carefully loaded onto the back of a pickup and the Wolf forced to drive the group to this mysterious community.

Carol told him how the people there were good, more than prepared to help the ragtag group of strangers that arrived at their gates in the middle of the night with two dying people in the back of a truck.

“Dr Meadows removed the bullet and patched you up, then all we could do was wait for you to wake up” she told him with a stern look “You took your sweet time and made us wait for two days. Just like you to make us worry” she mock scolded as she squeezed his hand, with a smile.

He’d asked after Jasmine and her smile had faded.

“She’s alive but in a bad way” she told him “ she lost so much blood her body went into shock and she actually clinically died but Dr Meadows managed to resuscitate her. She’s in another room on life support. We’ve been lucky, the people here raided a hospital a few months back, took all the supplies and some of the more portable machines”

He’d insisted on seeing her and Carol had helped him shuffle like an old man into the next room. Marcie was sitting at her bedside, a book clutched in her hand as she read out loud to her motionless friend.

“I don’t know if she can hear me but it might help bring her back, she always loved this book” Marcie had given them a watery smile as she held up the battered copy of Pride and Prejudice she been reading from before leaving the room.

Carol had left him alone for a while and he’d stared down at Jasmine’s pale, still face. She’d looked so small and frail, her dark hair fanned across the pillow, an oxygen mask over her face as the machines breathed for her. 

Feeling stupid he’d lowered himself to the bed at her side, his fingers brushing over her exposed hand as it lay on the sheets beside her.

“Come on Doc, you aint gonna go and die on me now are you? Not now I need you to help me sort my shit out. You was right it did feel good to talk, but I aint gonna do it with anyone but you so you better get your ass well again damn quick” With a final touch to her hand he’d pulled himself up and limped from the room.

She’d been on the life support machine for 4 weeks with no improvement when the decision was made to switch it off. Daryl and Carol had both fought the decision but had to concede that winter was coming and the community needed to conserve the amount of electricity the solar panels made for more practical things. The day they pulled the switch Daryl left the new community and didn’t return for 3 days. He arrived back at the gates in a truck he’d hotwired somewhere on the road filled with medical supplies and food, telling the leaders it was payment for caring for him and trying to save Jasmine. They’d accepted it gratefully and the two communities still traded together.

Daryl dragged his mind back to the present as he arrived at his destination. He climbed the steps to the house and barged inside without knocking, at once regretting it when he found himself facing Marcie and Eugene entwined on the couch. Without coming up for air Marcie waved him on, indicating down the hallway to the closed door of the dining room and he rushed through trying not to see anything else, knowing what he had seen already was going to haunt him for a long time.

Slamming the door shut again behind him he leant on the frame, scrubbing at his face, trying to rub away the images embedded there.

“Maybe you should start using the back door, less risk of seeing things you don’t want too” her voice was amused and he knew she was laughing at him.

“You knew what they was doing and you didn’t think to warn me?” he grumbled “Gonna have to bleach my eyeballs now, just to get ‘em clean after seeing that”

She laughed again.

“Just be happy for them, though I think they could have waited until after the wedding before they started the wedding night. I always thought it was unlucky for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony”

He gave an inelegant snort.

“Looked like someone was getting lucky to me and don’t recall seeing no wedding dress either”

Finally he glanced up at her for the first time since entering the room and couldn’t help the small grin at the sight in front of him, as she sat at a desk, peering into a small mirror applying some kind of girly shit to her eyelashes.

“Looking good girl” he commented, noting her unruly long hair pinned up on top of her head, messy tendrils escaping already and framing her face, the small white flowers Maggie had carefully woven in perched precariously, already in danger of falling out. The strappy dress was pale blue and fitted her slim frame perfectly, the high heeled shoes on her feet setting the outfit off nicely.

He saw her eying him up and down and squirmed awkwardly in his long sleeved shirt and stiff, new, black jeans, tugging uncomfortably at the tightly buttoned collar. Maggie had tried to get him to wear a suit and he’d risked his life refusing a heavily pregnant woman’s request, wondering who had thought it was a good idea to make Maggie the wedding planner from Hell..

“Not looking too shabby yourself” she commented, impressed with how well he scrubbed up when he tried to make an effort.

“You ready for this then” Daryl muttered gruffly, trying to distract her from her scrutiny.

With a smile she nodded and he moved closer, scooping her easily into his arms. He swung her round and carefully set her down in the wheelchair next to the bed, making sure she was comfortable before releasing the brake and wheeling her to the door. He heard her giggle as he cautiously peered out, relieved to see the now empty couch.

“Looks like they took it somewhere else” he muttered as he wheeled her from the dining room turned bedroom.

As they made their way down the street, returning the greetings of the other townsfolk making their way to the small church he thought again how lucky they were. A week after the life support machine had been switched off Jasmine was still clinging to life. It was decided to bring her home to Alexandria and for 3 more long weeks she lay in a coma in the medical center. Round the clock care from the women of Alexandria and numerous runs to find the drips and other equipment they needed to keep her alive were finally rewarded when she moved her hand for the first time. Three days later she opened her eyes and after that continued to make a dramatic recovery. The bullet that had entered her back had damaged her spine in some way, no one knew what damage had been done or if it was permanent but it left her unable to walk. Coop and Abe had left immediately, returning several hours later with a wheelchair and she refused to let it slow her down at all.

Two weeks after waking up she was home, insisting she was perfectly capable of caring for herself once her bedroom had been moved downstairs. She continued to act as the communities only doctor, although her confidence had taken a bit of a hit after her experience with the Wolves. Marcie was the only one that knew about the nightmares that sometimes plagued her sleep but they decided it was only to be expected after what she’d been through and kept it to themselves.

Jasmine looked around the packed church. Everyone was there, no one wanted to miss the first wedding Alexandria had seen since the outbreak. She saw Eugene standing at the front of the church, smart in a suit, a look of terror on his face as he waited for his future wife to appear. Abe was tugging at the tie he’d reluctantly agreed to wear in his role as best man, earning a disapproving glare from Maggie as she hissed at him to stop fidgeting.

Rick and Michonne were next to Deanna in the front row, both trying, and failing, not to be caught stealing glances at each other decked out in their wedding finery and Jasmine guessed and hoped it wouldn’t be long before they finally admitted how they felt about each other. 

Next to her Daryl squirmed on the uncomfortable pew, surreptitiously trying to undo the top two buttons on his tight shirt without an eagle eyed Maggie spotting him. She did, shooting him a hurt look as she rested her hand on her bulging stomach.

“Be glad when she pops that damn kid” he muttered as he reluctantly redid the buttons up. “Won’t have no reason to bully us anymore. He decided it was best to ignore the muffled laugh from the next seat.

There was a flurry of movement by the door and Marcie appeared, looking nervous and pretty in a knee length white dress, scavenged from somewhere as she clung to Coops arm. He gave her a reassuring smile and escorted her down the aisle, handing her to Eugene as they stood in front of Father Gabriel. 

After a brief but touching ceremony the party moved to Deanna’s house where food and booze flowed. Jasmine was settled in a large armchair, a sleepy Judith nestled into her side as she watched the newlyweds take to the temporary dance floor for the first dance. Neither could dance and it was a clumsy, awkward affair but somehow right for the two of them and got them a round of applause when it was over, as well as several ribald comments from a now tieless and tipsy Abraham about how he hoped the wedding night would be more successful.

As she watched her friends enjoy themselves around her Jasmine realised how lucky they all were. They had the security of high walls and the safety of numbers. They weren’t invincible but they were strong.

“Jasmine!” Glenn’s urgent voice bought her from her thoughts.

“It’s Maggie, it’s started” he stammered “the baby’s coming”

At once Jasmine took charge.

“ How far apart are the contractions?” she asked the terrified young man

Glenn stared at her wide eyed.

“I don’t know, I just found her bent over in the kitchen and she yelled at me, told me to go get you” he panicked.

She caught his hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly.

“It’s okay, no need to worry, everything’s going to be fine. Get Carol and take my wheelchair, get Maggie to the medical room and I’ll check her out. We’ve probably got hours yet”

She was wrong.

Less than two hours later Hershel Shawn Rhee was brought kicking and screaming into the world. Maggie had been have contractions for a few hours before Glenn found her and been hiding it, determined she wasn’t going to ruin the wedding celebrations. Now she lay back on the bed, exhausted but happy as she watched Glenn gaze at his tiny, newborn son snuggled in his arms, a look of total adoration on his face.

There was a soft tap on the door before it opened and Carol peered cautiously into the room. She’d assisted Jasmine in the delivery, remembering the training Hershel had given her in preparation for Lori’s delivery, thankful that this time everything had gone to plan.

“Are you up to visitor’s yet?” she asked with a smile. “There’s a room full of people here, all anxious to see what all the fuss has been about”

From her chair at the bedside Jasmine helped Maggie arrange herself comfortably on the pillows as Glenn settled on the bed at her side.

“You’d better let them in” Maggie smiled “We’ll get no rest ‘till they’ve seen him”

Within seconds the room was full, people clustering around the bed offering congratulations and murmurs of delight at the newborn. Jasmine managed to get herself out of the way, knowing the group Maggie had spent so long with needed this moment of happiness.

She watched as they hugged, laughed and cried together, happy for them but feeling a brief moment of loneliness. She had no idea what had happened to any or her friends and family after the turn and could only assume they were all dead. She felt the prick of tears but brushed them away and plastered on a smile as Michonne turned to her.

“Hey, what’re you doing all the way back there?” she asked “get yourself back here, you’re part of this family now” Before she could protest Carl was behind her pushing the wheelchair forward and she was engulfed in the celebrations.

She caught Daryl’s eye and he gave her a brief nod, a blink and you’ll miss it smile crossing his face before he turned back to the ecstatic couple.

“So you got a name yet?” he asked as the baby let out a loud hungry wail, making him cringe.

“Banshee, sounds ‘bout right he keeps making a noise like that” he grumbled.

“You are not calling my son Banshee!” Maggie cried, her voice almost lost amongst the laughter.

As they celebrated the new arrival Jasmine had a feeling that life was going to be alright, they were going to be ok, they were safe.

At least that was all she could hope for.

 

In the forest surrounding Alexandria, keeping out of sight of the men posted in the guard towers, two men studied the walls.

“They’re secure but that shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll just wait for someone to leave on a run and snatch them up. Threatening them’ll get us inside pretty quick” the taller of the two turned away.

“Set up a few patrols to keep watch, see what we can find out. If they get a chance to grab someone so much the better” He ordered.

The smaller man nodded.

“Sure thing Boss, I’ll get right on it” he gave a final look at the high walls as he followed the broad, leather jacket wearing man back to the car they had arrived in.

“Think they’ll give us any trouble?” he asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.

The big man laughed as he rested the barbed wire covered baseball on his shoulder.

“If they do we’ll soon knock it out of them” He gave a last glance over his shoulder as he climbed into the car.

“That place is as good as ours now”

END?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. I have no medical experience whatsoever so have no idea if Jasmine could really have survived and recovered from an injury like that so please just give me the benefit of the doubt and call it artist license.  
> I've left the ending open, let me know if you would like a sequel, but it may be a while coming as I need to spend some time on the joint project with lizziekat15 (check out our Facebook page mistykatproductions for more information, please like our page and feel free to message us, we'd love to hear from you)


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